Gen. McChrystal, Community Organizer

Dexter Filkins has a terrific piece in the NY Times Magazine titled "Stanley McChrystal’s Long War".  We are encouraged to see that McChrystal is engaging in community organizing - maybe he and Obama can swap stories and bond over that:

The Marines around McChrystal, including the local battalion commander, Lt. Col. Christian Cabaniss, looked surprised, even alarmed, when McChrystal removed his protective gear. But as the group walked the rutted streets into Garmsir’s bazaar, they began taking off their helmets, too.

“Who owns the land here?” McChrystal asked, peering up the street and into the shops. “Is it owned by the farmers or by landlords?”

It was the sort of question a sociologist, or an economist, would ask. No one offered an answer.

“If you owned 200 acres here, would you live on it, or would you live somewhere else?” McChrystal asked.

The entourage entered the bazaar. The Afghans sensed that an important American had arrived, and they began to gather in groups inside the stalls. Then the general stopped and turned.

“What do you need here?” McChrystal asked.

A translator turned the general’s words into Pashto.

“We need schools!” one Afghan called back. “Schools!”

“We’re working on that,” McChrystal said. “Those things take time.”

McChrystal walked some more, engaging another group of Afghans. He posed the same question.

“Security,” a man said. “We need security. Security first, then the other things will be possible.”

“That is what we are trying to do,” McChrystal said. “But it’s going to take time. Success takes time.”

The questions kept coming, and the answer was the same. After a couple of hours, McChrystal put on his helmet and flak jacket, boarded the Black Hawk and flew to another town.

I won't pretend that this is as challenging as getting the asbestos out of Altgeld Gardens (and I'll bet McChrystal is not fully up to speed on his Alinsky) but still - it's great to know our Commander-in-Chief brings a relevant skill set to the Afghanistan problem.

FOR ANOTHER PERSPECTIVE:  Robert Pape, a poli-sci prof from the U of Chicago, argues for a long distance remote-controlled war, explaining that it is foreign troops that are providing the targets and creating the animosity in Afghanistan.

I thought the Taliban spent years fighting other Afghan groups without any US instigation at all and would be delighted to do so again.

Comments

[narciso]

Right because the Saudi General Intelligence
and ISI involvement, oh, that's not what he means at all, he's been quiet since the success of Petraeus's counterinsurgency strategy.

[bgates]

I'll bet McChrystal is not fully up to speed on his Alinsky

"Pick the target, freeze it, personalize it, and polarize it blow it to hell" - I think he is.

[clarice]

Well, I don't want to claim theft but I believe days ago I said that McChrystal had a better chance selling his idea as community organizing rather than military strategy.

[narciso]

Well effective counterinsurgency relies on community contact, re; Galula, that why you need at least 40,000 additional troops.

[Terry Gain]

I thought the Taliban spent years fighting other Afghan groups without any US instigation at all and would be delighted to do so again.

You thought correctly, TM. The difference between you and Professor Pape is that you are good at what you do.

[clarice]

Terry wins today's Post of the Day!!

[MayBee]

I am driven crazy by Ezra Klein's blog because people are constantly correcting him in the comments, and he very rarely acknowledges it.

[narciso]

reality just get in the way of 'the narrative' whether it's the brave and conscientous (sic)jihadists, hoping to liberate his homeland, or the brave and conscientous bureaucrat bringing us the
'manna' of the public option, to us poor
trolls who suffer from 'false consciousness'

[narciso]

I meant proles, see how they seep in

[hit and run]

Wait, MayBee, you read Ezra enough to know that "people are constantly correcting him in the comments, and he very rarely acknowledges it"?

This is the most shocking thing I've read since...

...well, since...

...since finding out that Jake Tapper watches Felicity enough to know what a disaster it was when she cut off her hair.

[MayBee]

Ha!

[narciso]

And considering that Felicity's been off the air for eight years now. Did Ezra win
the crackerjack prize?

[Jane]

So now we can see all the avatars? I can only imagine what will happen next.

[centralcal]

Where is the typepad exchange window? I like MayBee's doohickie better than mine.

[MayBee]

doohickie envy is an ugly thing, centralcal.

[centralcal]

Yeah well - "ugly thing" - that is how I feel about my doohickie/avatar/ whateveryacallit.

[PeterUK]

"Who owns the land here?” McChrystal asked, peering up the street and into the shops. “Is it owned by the farmers or by landlords?"

Sound more like something Tony Rezko would say.

[Oh, please, either TCO or Leo, too.]

Hey, they're not unique; lucky me shares one with PuK.
=================================

[centralcal]

Well DANG! I went over to old threads to look for sylvia's doohickie and lo and behold I discovered Sue's is the same as mine.

No wonder we fight over Dick Cheney first dibs! It is in our avatars!

[Ha, ha, ha.]

Yeah, I wonder if the avatars come by an algorithm. PuK waterboards the English language to extract otherwise unattainable insights from it, and I torture it.
===================================

[Frau Morgenröte]

It's raining doohickies. narciso will now learn that my admiration of Sarah Palin equals his!

[Frau Morgenröte]

clarice's doohickie reminds me of her Shiva (creative mode) ability to cook, knit, write and think all at the same time. I noticed, however, in D.C. that she does *not* have eight arms.

[narciso]

I'm still trying to figure out most of the umlauted handles, pitchfork, claw worm, nightmare, squid and morning wheel?

[MayBee]

Jane- it's like Christmas every day now in Typepadland.

[Like many things, we can put all the meaning in them we like.]

Mine's the sun and all its flare and magnetic properties affecting the earth besides the direct energy of its light.
========================================

[clarice]

Well, frau, it's been cold and rainy for two days now and my cat and I have mostly been slacking off--all right I'm doing a little knitting and bread backing and the cat's winning the snoozearama but there we are.

[Dave (in MA)]

I tried posting with embedded images of all 20 icons, but it swallowed my post.

[matt]

if you go back in Afghan history or even in Pakistan today, one of the biggest issues is land disputes. The local landowners and even the magnates are regularly dispossessing the farmers. This fuels a lot of the vendettas that have made both countries sometimes ungovernable. There is a tremendous amount of injustice, and the graft keeps the system oiled.

The Taliban have actually made this one of their more successful platforms. Rough justice at a huge price, but the farmers know they have a venue to fight back.

[JM Hanes]

Dave:

I discovered that 1 graphic = 2 links out of the 4 link max. You could paste them all into a single image -- or maybe into one of those little hand held plastic puzzle games where you have to slide the numbers around. Or not.

[fdcol63]

We seem to have conflicting views here:

In days past, Leftist critics told us that our enemies despised us because we were too "gutless" to confront them on the ground, in direct combat, and too quick to resort to the use of "long distance remote- controlled weapons" and superior technology.

Now, these same critics argue that our presence on the ground, in direct combat, is what is creating the animosity.

If this is so, what explains the fact that 20-30,000+ jihadists flocked to Afghanistan to train in Bin Laden's terror camps in the 1990's, at the height of the Pax Clintona "holiday from history"?

[MayBee]

Dave, I don't believe I gave you permission to reprint my thingamabob.

[Frau Morgenröte]

narciso - Morgenröte or Morgenrot mean Dawn which is my actual name. I used Morgenröte so JOMers wouldn't think I was calling myself "morning rot"!

clarice - sounds like perfect weather for keeping up on slacking skills. As a fellow tricoteuse (École Madame Defarge), I took two projects on our recent trip, but spent most of my idle time trying to get internet access in a rainforest and whimpering when I couldn't.

[Frau Morgenröte]

And it came to be known as the Doohickie-Thingamabob Conflict...

I hate to think what will happen if Mark Steyn shows *his* doohickie around here.

[clarice]

It's easier to knit on an airplane than it is in a kayak, frau morgenrote.

[Porchlight]

central, I like yours (and Sue's) doohickie best! It reminds me of some placemats we had in the 70's. No really, from me that's a compliment. :)

[hit and run]

clarice:
It's easier to knit on an airplane than it is in a kayak, frau morgenrote.

I don't know, I think I'll need to hear it from Daddy.

What, you're coming in for landing and you control the throttle with one knee and the yoke with another?

[Jack is Back!]

This is the first time I have seen everyone's "doohickie" on a thread. Usually, its just mine that comes up. Did Tom have to pay Typepad extra for this cuteness?

Clarice, you don't own a Saturn do you?

[Rick Ballard]

Dave,

I really can't tell you how shocked I am that you would fool around with MayBee's thingamabob without permission. I believe a full report of the incident is in order.

[clarice]

No Saturn, just an old reliable Toyota that has so few miles on it, parking lot attendants swoon and beg me to sell it to them and my dealer keeps asking if I played with the odometer when I bring it in for tuneups.

[Sue]

Stop looking at my doohickie!

[sbw]

sbw looks left to see his Doohickie-Thingamabob.

[Janet]

((central, I like yours (and Sue's) doohickie best!))

Alright Porchlight, I'm feeling doohickie envy.

[Old Lurker]

Jack, what makes you think you have the only doohickie that comes up?

[Sara (Pal2Pal)]

Have you all seen this headline that ran on an AP article (in the Weekly Standard) in June 2004?

Kenyan-born Obama all set for US Senate

Kenyan-born US Senate hopeful, Barrack Obama, appeared set to take over the Illinois Senate seat after his main rival, Jack Ryan, dropped out of the race on Friday night amid a furor over lurid sex club allegations.

The allegations that horrified fellow Republicans and caused his once-promising candidacy to implode in four short days have given Obama a clear lead as Republicans struggled to fetch an alternative.

Ryan’s campaign began to crumble on Monday following the release of embarrassing records from his divorce. In the records, his ex-wife, Boston Public actress Jeri Ryan, said her former husband took her to kinky sex clubs in Paris, New York and New Orleans.

[MayBee]

Some of them look like they were made using a Spirograph. Love!

[JM Hanes]

Now this has gotta hurt:

Gallup points out that in this latest survey, Hillary Clinton is now more popular than Obama. Sixty-two percent say they have a favorable impression of the Secretary of State, versus 34 percent who have an unfavorable impression. That's a big change from the height of the battle for the Democratic nomination last year; in February 2008, just 48 percent had a favorable impression of Mrs. Clinton, versus 49 percent who had an unfavorable impression.

Gallup has Obama at 56% to $40% right now, although his job approval stands at 52%.

[clarice]

It's the Sunday Standard, not the Weekly Standard and I never heard of it.

[clarice]

And that's with Gallup's secret special sauce,JMH.

[hit and run]

Sara:
Have you all seen this headline that ran on an AP article (in the Weekly Standard) in June 2004?

It's the East African Standard, a Kenyan publication. And the --AP does not, I think refer to the Associated Press.

[Sara (Pal2Pal)]

Ah, thanks. My bad. Although interesting, nonetheless. No?

[clarice]

I believe that outfit(AP, not the real AP) was pimping that story thru the campaign and was apparently a fraudulent site.

[PeterUK]

Couldn't be plainer,AP,Absolute Truth,African President.

[clarice]

I think it was African Press actually.

[hit and run]

Interesting, definitely.

[JM Hanes]

Speaking of the AP, I was interested to see Jennifer Loven on Bret Baier's all stars panel last night. Don't know whether it's intended or not, but if he can sit the AP Washington bureau folks down at that table one by one for a week or so each, maybe actually having to entertain a serious alternative viewpoint would have a salutary effect on them.

I sure wish they'd haul Carol Leonnig in there -- she's the staff reporter who consistently wrote some of the most factually challenged pieces on the Libby trial at the WaPo. In fact, it was so bad, that after the first few skewed observations in a column, I hardly needed to check the byline to see who wrote it. I remain surprised that she's still working there, which will give you an idea of just how slanted a "straight news" reporter I think she is.

[cathyf]

Man, I am so bummed about my doohickey. I like everybody else's better than mine.

(pout. flounce. hrrummmph.)

[hit and run]

cathy, you can make up whatever email address you want in there and ...well... play with your doohickey.

[Cant Standya]

I think if we bomb the Taliban with these mind twisting avatars, they will surrender. Honestly, I can't stand these little optical illusions next to each post. It's like George Costanza coming out of the can shirtless after staring at one of those 3-D posters.

Yo, JM, dump these avatars now...or I'm voting straight Dem ticket next election!!!

[verner]

Yo, JOMers. What is it with all these little pics?

[clarice]

We think it might be a newly sprung typepad feature no one seems to have asked for. Unlike the ability to click on a post and have it appear so we don't all get carpal tunnel syndrome which we do want back.

[clarice]

Per Newsbusters, Huff Po has retracted the Rush "quotes" So sort of has CNN's Sanchez and Anderson Cooper. MSNBC is courting bankruptcy by so far failing to retract.

[AST]

This is basic counterinsurgency. Win the hearts and minds. It was developed in the Philippines over a hundred years ago. Discussed in Imperial Grunts by Robert D. . Kaplan. It was mocked during the Vietnam War, but it works. People want safety, health, a future for their kids and a way to make a living. If they have those, they'll fight to defend them.