I have just finished reading Michael Hastings’ article “The Runaway General” in The Rolling Stone.  My reaction is that  the mainstream media (as usual) has focused on the name calling and left out some really crucial factual information. Mainly that some of our most important NATO allies no longer support the war in Afghanistan (opposition to the war has already toppled the Dutch government, forced the resignation of Germany’s president and sparked both Canada and the Netherlands to announce the withdrawal of their 4,500 troops); that US troops in Afghanistan no longer support the war or believe it’s winnable; that a classic “hearts and minds operation will never succeed in Afghanistan because Ahmed Karzai is a crook who has been totally discredited in the eyes of the local population; and that the State Department and others in the Obama administration continue to “micromanage” our military strategy in Afghanistan – and in doing so tie the hands of professional military leaders who are supposedly responsible for prosecuting the war.

Why Did McCrystal Give His Story to the Rolling Stone?

After reading Hasting’s careful account of Stanley McCrystal’s background and manic personality style (he’s constantly go-go-go, sleeps four hours a night and eats once a day or less), I can see one of two possibilities.  Either, as a result of a full-blown manic episode (though at 55 he’s a little old for that) he has lost all capacity for reason or judgement. Or he knew exactly what he was doing and what the reaction would be. Perhaps he reached the conclusion that the war in Afghanistan is, in fact, unwinnable the way he’s being asked to fight it.

In either case, he has done the American public (whose opposition to the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq are largely responsible for placing Congress and the White House in Democratic hands). The mainstream media has largely forgotten about the war in Afghanistan or the public opposition to it (according to one Hasting’s sources, the Obama administration likes it this way – better coverage onlyincrease popular opposition war).

I am willing to wager that this (I believe strategic move) on McCrystal’s part will be the turning point in this whole eight and a half year debacle. Besides being unwinnable, the trillions of dollars Obama is spending on the wars in Afghanistan, Iraq (and now) Pakistan are destroying the US economy. Thank God that McCrystal (and Hastings) have finally woken up the mainstream media and the public about what’s really happening in the Middle East.

Read on at http://stuartbramhall.aegauthorblogs.com