Gen Stanley MacChrystal under fire over rough tactics and 'prisoner abuse'

[ThirdWorldJohn]

Gen Stanley MacChrystal, America's new army chief in Afghanistan, under fire over rough tactics and 'prisoner abuse'
The general chosen by Barack Obama to run the war in Afghanistan permitted abusive treatment and interrogation of detainees in Iraq, according to human rights investigators.

Soldiers have described beatings, psychological torture and other physical mistreatment at a camp near Baghdad where General Stanley McChrystal, then commander of US Joint Special Operations forces in Iraq, was frequently seen.

The investigation into human rights abuses was led by Marc Garlasco, himself a former Pentagon intelligence officer who helped lead the hunt for former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein. Now a weapons expert at Human Rights Watch, his report, No Blood No Foul, covered the period 2003-2004 when Gen McChrystal operated in the shadows and hunted insurgents across Iraq.

Gen McChrystal is likely to be questioned over the findings of the report, compiled in 2006, during Senate hearings which are needed to confirm his appointment to his new post.

His special operations unit used Camp Nama, an acronym for "Nasty Ass Military Area", which had a fearsome reputation.

More here:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/northamerica/usa/barackobama/5335846/Gen-Stanley-MacChrystal-Americas-new-army-chief-in-Afghanistan-under-fire-over-rough-tactics-and-prisoner-abuse.html

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The Evil That Mean Do When They Know That They Can Get Away With The Doing of It.

Even in a so-called war time it is better to have a civilian chosen as the Sec. of Def.

Have you ever noticed how the US news Corps are not going after these stories. (Corpo Whores)

[bemildred]

1. Look, "rough tactics" and "prisoner abuse" is what "Special Forces" is all about.

Just like police "SWAT Teams" and "Counter-intelligence" activities and so on. None of this is even slightly new or unusual. Let's stop pretending we can be Mary Poppins and Ahnuld all at the same time. Either have morals and ethics and implement them rigorously, or shutup with all the self-righteous propaganda about democracy and human rights and so on. Put up or shut up.

[ThirdWorldJohn]

3. Isn't that what those bad apples were prosecuted for? OK for one detail but not the other?

Read the article. I thing that some of these things are war crimes when ordered by an officer of the occupational forces. According to the Gen Con of course.

According to Mr Garlasco's report, which was based on soldiers' evidence, inmates at the camp were regularly stripped naked, subjected to sleep deprivation and extreme cold, placed in painful stress positions, and beaten.

"Once, somebody brought it up with the colonel," reported the soldier. "'Will ever be allowed in here?' And he said, 'Absolutely not.' He had this directly from General McChrystal and the Pentagon that there's no way that the Red Cross could get in. 'They won't have access and they never will.'"

"This facility was completely closed off to anybody investigating, even to Army investigators."

[bemildred]

4. Torture and "extra-judicial executions" is SOP.

It can be found in every war we ever fought. It is not just a few bad apples, it's what the apples are chosen for and trained to do.

[jbnow]

2. Please shorten the ~~~~ line. It stretches page too wide nt