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NEWS ABOUT: Stanley McChrystal

Time Names Ben Bernanke Person of the Year

Beats out Usain Bolt, Nancy Pelosi, and Stanley McChrystal

(Newser) - Time has named Ben Bernanke its “Person of the Year” for 2009, crediting him with saving the world’s financial system and dubbing him “the most powerful nerd on the planet.” This year was all about the economy, explains Michael Grunwald in his voluminous feature, “and... More »

McChrystal: We'll Know by This Time Next Year

General says troop surge should show results within a year

(Newser) - The US should know by this time next year whether the troop buildup in Afghanistan worked, Stanley McChrystal told the House Armed Services panel today, though he cautioned that there was no easy road to success. "The sober fact is that there are no silver bullets," he said.... More »

Obama's Long Road to Afghan Strategy

Prez was relentless in analyzing every angle

(Newser) - Amid cries of "dithering" and the silent finality of Arlington's rows of white tombstones, President Obama calmly, analytically, and exhaustively reviewed all options in Afghanistan before finally announcing to his team on Nov. 29 that he would send in 30,000 more troops. The New York Times retraces the... More »

Speech, Afghan Reality Don't Quite Match

Allies may not help; Afghan troops ineffective even if trained

(Newser) - President Obama’s speech tonight “raised expectations that may be hard to meet,” AP analysts Calvin Woodward and Robert Burns write, citing conditions in Afghanistan that don’t match Obama’s rhetoric:
  • US allies will add troops: In fact, this has always been a tough sell, and even
... More »

Obama's Afghan Plan Won't Please Anybody

Which means that the president may have gotten it right

(Newser) - President Obama has assembled parts of different Afghanistan strategies into a whole that looks certain to displease just about everybody when it is unveiled tonight, writes David Brooks. The administration appears to have pulled back from its earlier enthusiasm for a comprehensive counterinsurgency—COIN—plan in favor of COIN-lite, Brooks... More »

Obama Cools to Surge in Afghan Forces

President expected to pare down Afghan role in US plans

(Newser) - Even as President Obama is expected to announce a surge in US troops in Afghanistan tomorrow, the White House has soured on doubling the size of the Afghan army and police, the Wall Street Journal reports. The president plans to scale back a key element of Gen. McChrystal's strategy, the... More »

9K Marines to Lead Afghanistan Charge

They'll be deployed days after Obama outlines new war plan

(Newser) - Just days after Obama unveils his new Afghan war strategy, as many as 9,000 Marines will ready themselves to deploy to Afghanistan's Hemland province as part of phased reinforcements approach. They'll double the Marine force in a bloody southern region that has seen US gains but, due to a... More »

Report: Obama Will Send 34K Troops to Afghanistan

Prez finalized decision last night, will address nation next week

(Newser) - President Obama has made his choice on Afghan strategy after months of deliberations and will announce it next week, administration sources tell McClatchy . The president finalized his decision to send another 34,000 troops in meetings last night, and plans to address the nation on the choice next Tuesday, prior... More »

US, Afghans Recruit Taliban With Jobs

Drive will be similar to the 'Sons of Iraq' program

(Newser) - Afghanistan has launched an initiative to convert Taliban foot soldiers with the promise of jobs and protection. Backed by the US military, the plan is modeled on its “Sons of Iraq” program; Stanley McChrystal even lured a key architect of that program out of retirement to help with it.... More »

Backing Afghan Militias Makes NATO Allies Queasy

Experts worry $1.3B from US won't buy loyalty of local fighters

(Newser) - The US hasn’t given its Western allies the details of its plan to recruit and fund tribal militias to fight the Taliban in Afghanistan, fearing, correctly, that they won’t like it, the Guardian reports. The strategy is already under way in 14 areas, with a budget of some... More »

Clinton Makes Surprise Afghan Visit

Secretary arrives amid heightened security, meets with McChrystal

(AP) - Hillary Clinton made an unexpected appearance in Afghanistan today to attend the inauguration of President Hamid Karzai and meet with Gen. Stanley McChrystal. It's Clinton's first trip to Afghanistan since becoming secretary of state. Clinton called the visit "a specific opportunity for everyone to take stock of where we... More »

Afghan Calculus: 40K Troops Equals $40B

High long-term costs a big factor in debate

(Newser) - When President Obama rejected advisers' recommendations on Afghan troops and insisted they be retooled with exit strategies, he had the war's long-term financial costs in mind, an insider tells the New York Times . While military strategy gets the headlines, the financial constraints also are weighing heavily. Some specfics:
  • Gen. McChyrstal's
... More »

US Ambassador Disagrees on Afghan Troop Surge

Wants Karzai government to shape up first

(Newser) - The US ambassador to Afghanistan—a former general who served there as recently as 2007—is against increasing troop levels until the Afghan government gets its act together. In classified cables ahead of President Obama’s deliberations on a surge, Karl Eikenberry cites rampant corruption and mismanagement in Hamid Karzai’... More »

CBS: Prez Will Grant McChrystal Troop Request

White House denies decision made

(Newser) - President Obama has decided to grant Gen. Stanley McChrystal's request for a large and long-term increase in US forces in Afghanistan, according to CBS and AP , which cite "informed sources." The president will give the general almost all the troops he has asked for, boosting the size of... More »

Obama Eyes 30K+ Troop Surge

Said to be close to decision as Asia trip looms

(Newser) - President Obama is zeroing in on an Afghanistan strategy that likely includes sending in some 30,000 troops, reports Reuters —short of Gen. Stanley McChrystal's requested 40,000, but far greater than war-weary Democrats may support. An additional 4,000 trainers are likely to be sent, McClatchy reports, with... More »

McChrystal Lied About Tillman's Death: Krakauer

New book draws attention to general's role in cover-up

(Newser) - A new book is dredging up some uncomfortable history for Stanley McChrystal at an inconvenient time. Just as the general's credibility is on the line in Afghanistan, Jon Krakauer’s paints McChrystal as the central figure in the cover-up of Pat Tillman’s friendly fire death. McChrystal says he made... More »

Obama Looks for Local Allies in Afghanistan

Administration's decided it can't wipe out Taliban

(Newser) - President Obama has requested detailed, province-by-province analysis of Afghanistan’s local and tribal leaders, hoping to find more effective partners than the country’s weak and corrupt central government. The administration has concluded that no surge in troops will be able to eradicate the Taliban as a political force, but... More »

City-Focused Afghan Plan Winning Support

Emerging strategy fuses McChrystal, Biden competing plans

(Newser) - A plan one official describes as "McChrystal for the city, Biden for the country," is emerging as the administration continues to hammer out its Afghan strategy. The plan would concentrate US forces in population centers, while maintaining pressure on insurgents elsewhere with drone strikes and targeted attacks from... More »

Pentagon Holds Secret Afghan War Games

Mullen leads exercise to assess effects of troop surge

(Newser) - The chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Adm. Mike Mullen, led a secret war game earlier this month to assess the Obama administration's options in Afghanistan, including a 44,000-troop surge. A team of military leaders used Gen. Stanley McChrystal's analysis to examine how Taliban insurgents and the Afghan... More »

Obama Leans to Modified McChrystal Plan

Not buying Biden strategy as sufficient, without some troops

(Newser) - Gen. Stanley McChrystal looks less and less likely to walk away empty handed, the Wall Street Journal predicts, as President Obama moves towards a "hybrid" strategy in Afghanistan that would combine troop increases with the special ops approach supported by the vice president. One scenario would see 10,000... More »

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