海角大神

The former commander of military forces in Afghanistan, retired Gen. Stanley McChrystal, this week related a striking behind-the-scenes account of the US Special Operations forces hunt for Taliban insurgents, revealing US government agency roadblocks that made his job more difficult.

McChrystal also offered his views on Wikileaks and the benefits of transparency. He was forced to resign his command in June after making impolitic comments to a Rolling Stone reporter.

Speaking at the Net-Centric Warfare Conference in Washington, the former general related the story of the US pursuit of a one-legged Taliban commander who operated in Afghanistan with considerable impunity, much to the consternation of Special Operations forces. The commander regularly traveled into and out of Afghanistan to visit his Taliban troops 鈥� what McChrystal referred to as a 鈥渂attlefield circulation,鈥� US military parlance for visits by top officers to check on their soldiers in the field.

鈥淲e were not fast enough, and not precise enough to get him,鈥� he said at the conference, sponsored by the Institute for Defense and Government Advance. 鈥淪o we started trying to find out why.鈥�

To that end, McChrystal returned to Washington to meet with 鈥渙ne of our intelligence agencies." He recounted the conversation. 鈥淭hey said, 鈥榃ell, actually, we know before he comes in when he鈥檚 going to come in, but we can鈥檛 give you that information.鈥� I said, 鈥楢ll right, why?鈥� They said, 鈥楤ecause you鈥檙e JSCOC [Joint Special Operations Command] and you target people. We鈥檙e not allowed to give you information until they are somewhere where you can target them legally鈥� 鈥� which is like telling someone to 'shoot skeet, but leave the weapon in the trunk of the car.' 鈥�

Eventually McChrystal came to an agreement with the US intelligence agency. 鈥淭hey agreed to tell us鈥� when the Taliban leader was in the country, 鈥渁nd I agreed not to go across the border鈥� into Pakistan to get him.

Thanks to that cooperation, 鈥淗e鈥檚 dead,鈥� McChrystal concluded.

Now a professor at Yale University in New Haven, Conn., McChrystal began his hour-long speech by remarking on what he called the 鈥渋ronic鈥� nature of his new job at the Ivy League school. 鈥淚 couldn鈥檛 get in a school like that,鈥� he told the audience, 鈥渂ut I grade their papers.鈥�

McChrystal cautioned that what looks to Americans like a victory does not necessarily appear that way to the rest of the world, including Afghans. He cited the role that US funds played in helping Afghan insurgents buy weapons to drive out the Soviets in the early 1980s 鈥� which many Americans should inspire US loyalty among Afghans.

Conventional wisdom in the US is that, 鈥淭hey ought to be very thankful to us because we helped our Afghan brothers鈥� against the Soviets, McChrystal said. But the war also left 1.2 million Afghans dead, which he estimated was proportionately equal to 15 million Americans 鈥渋n today鈥檚 numbers.鈥� An understandable view from an Afghan fighter鈥檚 perspective might be, 鈥淲e fought them, how about a thank you鈥� from the US government? McChrystal pointed out.

The same goes for Iran, added McChrystal, perhaps offering a glimpse into his teaching style at Yale. 鈥淲hat do Iranians think鈥� of America? he asked his audience. McChrystal ventured an answer, 鈥淚n 1953 we overthrew their government鈥� in a CIA-backed coup and imposed a Shah who 鈥渢urned out to be a despotic dictator.鈥� He concluded, 鈥淚t doesn鈥檛 matter what鈥檚 right or wrong.鈥� What matters, he said, is perspective.

McChrystal also offered his own take on the Wikileaks release of Pentagon secret and classified reports and State Department cables. 鈥淭he thing I hate about that is there鈥檚 a bunch of people who want to pull back鈥� on information-sharing, and the WikiLeaks episode provides a good excuse to justify that. 鈥淎s soon as they see WikiLeaks they think, 鈥楪reat.鈥� 鈥�

He called the decision by WikiLeaks to release the classified cables 鈥渦nconscionable,鈥� because Wikileaks staff members are unable to 鈥渆valuate that information鈥� for the damage it might inflict on troops. But the leaks should not affect the impulse to share information among government agencies, and even with journalists who are reporting from the field. Occasionally, 鈥淵ou are going to pay some price for sharing,鈥� McChrystal said. 鈥淏ut at the end of the day, it鈥檚 better.鈥�