by Kelly ThomasMay 22, 2010

(AP Photo/Markus Schreiber)

On The Newshour the other night, Jeffrey Brown interviewed General McChrystal. I would say that the interview was informative, but I can't.

General McChrystal is a winsome soul and I like him as well as Petraeus (CENTCOM commander which is over both wars) but they are generals. Petraeus and McChrystal are politicians. They know how to say the right thing and have been to all the military training schools. In fact, the most popular school teaches, "Never answer the question asked, answer the question you wish had been asked."

What can the head general say about Afghanistan? "We are making progress but nobody is winning." What in the "h" does that mean? With 100,000 troops soon to be in Afghanistan, that is not a good answer. Brown was pretty good at not pitching softballs, but we learned nothing new. McChrystal acknowleged the difficulty with the new counter-insurgery, plus the strength of the Taliban.

Most telling were his comments which should worry every American who cares. When Brown mentioned the President's timetable, the good general said something like, "The President has said that we are committed to the people of Afghanistan how ever long it takes." This sounds to me like some kind of open-ended commitment that is far more than what we can imagine. With eight years already, d---.

What the President needs to know is that generals have a different mindset. McChrystal thinks in "can do" military philosophy- "You want me to fix Afghanistan? You got it. Even with five thousand years of culture? No sweat."

McChrystal more than most, lives a solitary life. Sacrifice is his middle name and he wants everybody around him to sacrifice. He even got rid of Burger King. He's a good man and we can feel comfortable with him leading our troops.

But, I, would like McChrystal to come clean. "General, let's have your true thoughts." "OK, -Karzai is a fraud, won in a disputed election and didn't even try to conceal it. His brother is under a constant cloud of influence peddling. Millions of taxpayer dollars are given to a government that can't even account for it. Poppy growing($2-300 million profit for the Taliban), Tribe loyalty, War Lords. Need I go on? The list of challenges are endless."

McChrystal could continue, "How the h--- did this happen to us. It is impossible." However, a general is not going to convey his true feelings. It is simply not in his nature.

To me, there are two courses of action. Follow the lead of the Russians and just get the hell out. The second one is a real possibility. Keep close to thirty thousand soldiers, exclusively Special Operations Soldiers in Afghanistan.

Get the "conventional" troops out of the country. Conventional soldiers are soldiers like most of our troops, trained in the "art of war" but in conventional ways. Compare them to a police force. Conventional Soldiers are the "beat" cops.

Special Operations soldiers(rangers, Navy Seals, snipers, Air Force explosive experts,specialties that we don't even know about) are like specialized policemen(the swat team, the hostage negotiators, the terroism experts). Special Operations Soldiers are like specialized cops who are more schooled in their specialty and are older.

Special Operation Soldiers love war. It is their life. They need continuous training. They are elite.

For every soldier that becomes an elite soldier in Special Operations, only about one in ten makes it through the rigorous training. Think Marines but a hundred times harder. Special Ops are not called "snake eaters" for nothing.(Special Ops soldiers are taught to survive tough terrain by killing and eating snakes)

So, why not concentrate on holding onto the major population centers, concede some of Afghanistan to the Taliban. Fight them to a draw. The Taliban might negotiate, but then again, not really an issue because all this time we are training Afghans to be policemen and soldiers. We are not thinking leaving on a time table anytime. When it is "time" we'll know.

Related Articles:

Exclusive: McChrystal Says Despite Progress in Afghanistan, 'Nobody is Winning'

Afghanistan president's brother, Ahmed Wali Karzai, under investigation

Afghan security agencies pay Taliban with coalition money?

Leave Us A Comment. No email required. Just click in the boxes. Place a name or put anonymous and then leave your thoughts.