Counterinsurgency and McChrystal

Click title of post for full interview done by Rolling Stone Magazine and General McChrystal.

Counterinsurgency or, COIN is the strategy that is being used in the war in Afghanistan. It is supported by General McChrystal and Obama.

In this recent interview conducted by Rolling Stone Magazine, McChrystal reveals his frustration with Washington and his difficulties with convincing our men on the ground that we are following a good strategy to defeat al-Qaeda. 

The overall tone of the story is one of gloom and doom. The writer is quite negative towards the war and, makes a point of making the reader feel as though there is no hope for the US to win this war.

It does appear to be true that perhaps the US is being too unrealistic when it comes to winning the hearts and minds in Afghanistan. The purpose of the counterinsurgency is to slowly root out al-Qaeda and, win the support of Afghan citizens.

AP Photo/Charles Dharapak

The aftermath of this article has been one of anger from Obama. General McChrystal is out. It is now being reported that he will be handing in his resignation.

After reading the full article, I cannot quite make heads or tails of what to think. Why on earth would McChrystal be talking to Rolling Stone Magazine, a magazine known for publishing the most anti-American rhetoric, along with general hatred of anything that doesn't fall under the category of ultra-liberal ideology?  I have a sneaking suspicion that the idea behind this article was to create a fallout of some sort. Was it Rolling Stone, or was it General McChrystal himself, that wanted to precipitate a reaction?

Surely, there is something else going on here but, I also feel as though our troops to do not trust this current administration, be it Obama directly, or the people around him.

Putting all this aside, the question remains- can the war in Afghanistan be won? What will victory "look" like? According to this article, the answer is a resounding, "no!" Is Rolling Stone the source that I trust to tell me this war is hopeless? I can tell you, my answer is no. Still, it's hard not to at least consider their opinion.

I want to know more. I want to know what the soldiers think about Obama and how he is running things. It is clear they are not supporting the rules of engagement, which tell them not to fire until fired upon, along with...

One soldier shows me the list of new regulations the platoon was given. "Patrol only in areas that you are reasonably certain that you will not have to defend yourselves with lethal force," the laminated card reads. For a soldier who has traveled halfway around the world to fight, that's like telling a cop he should only patrol in areas where he knows he won't have to make arrests. "Does that make any f****** sense?" asks Pfc. Jared Pautsch. "We should just drop a f****** bomb on this place. You sit and ask yourself: What are we doing here?"

How are we to fight a war with one hand tired behind our backs? The answer is simple, you can't. I have no idea what the solution is here. I only know that I'm not going to base my belief on this interview.