[新聞] 歐巴馬召回美軍駐阿富汗指揮官
標題:General alarm as Barack Obama summons Stanley McChrystal to
the White House
新聞來源: 英國衛報
http://tinyurl.com/28k8pj2
General alarm as Barack Obama summons Stanley McChrystal to the White House
Commander of US and Nato forces in Afghanistan must face the music after
mocking senior politicians in Rolling Stone magazine
Barack Obama will confront General Stanley McChrystal at the White House
tomorrow as he decides whether to sack the commander of US and Nato forces in
Afghanistan over disparaging and "contemptuous" remarks about senior
administration officials, including the president himself.
The White House said "all options are on the table" after an "angry" Obama
summoned McChrystal to Washington to explain quotes in the latest issue of
Rolling Stone magazine in which the general and his senior aides accuse the
US ambassador to Afghanistan of undermining the war, call the president's
national security adviser "a joke" and mock Joe Biden, the vice-president.
There is also indirect criticism of the president as "uncomfortable and
intimidated" by senior military officials.
Obama said he is considering McChrystal's future. "I think it's clear that
the article in which he and his team appeared showed poor judgment. But I
also want to make sure I talk to him directly before I make any final
decisions," he said.
The president added that his decision would be based on what is best for
making a success of the war in Afghanistan and that he would be consulting US
allies including David Cameron.
However, the mood appeared to be shifting against McChrystal. Earlier the
White House spokesman, Robert Gibbs, declined to give assurances about the
general's position. He said US efforts in Afghanistan were bigger than one
man and that McChrystal was not indispensable.
The general apologised in person and by phone to some of those criticised and
issued a statement admitting "a mistake reflecting poor judgment". "I have
enormous respect and admiration for President Obama and his national security
team," McChrystal said. But it is not clear whether that will be enough to
save McChrystal's job after what is the latest of a series of political
blunders.
A leading Democratic member of Congress, Dave Obey, chairman of the House
appropriations committee, called for him to be sacked. But the general had
the backing of the Afghan president, Hamid Karzai, who said he "strongly
supports General McChrystal and his strategy in Afghanistan and believes he
is the best commander the United States has sent to Afghanistan over the last
nine years".
In the Rolling Stone article, entitled The Runaway General, McChrystal's
aides are quoted as saying that he was less than impressed by Obama from the
start. The general is described as believing the president looked
"uncomfortable and intimidated" among senior military officers. McChrystal
was also "disappointed" that the president "didn't know anything about him"
during their early meetings.
The general mocks Biden, with whom he crossed swords over counterterrorism
strategy. "Are you asking about Vice-President Biden?" McChrystal said.
"Who's that?" A top adviser responds: "Biden? Did you say 'Bite me'?"
But the most stinging criticism is of other senior American officials with
responsibility for what is now America's longest war, including the US
ambassador to Kabul, Karl Eikenberry, Obama's special representative to
Afghanistan, Richard Holbrooke, and the president's national security
adviser, Jim Jones.
Rolling Stone quotes McChrystal's aides as calling Jones "a clown" who is
"stuck in 1985". Holbrooke is described as being "like a wounded animal".
"Holbrooke keeps hearing rumours that he's going to get fired, so that makes
him dangerous," said an aide. The magazine describes how McChrystal at one
point checks his BlackBerry. "Oh, not another email from Holbrooke," he said.
"I don't even want to open it."
Rolling Stone reports that Eikenberry cannot stand it that his former
subordinate is now in charge. Earlier this year, the New York Times published
a scathing critique by Eikenberry, a general in Afghanistan for three years
early in the war, of McChrystal's military strategy.
It criticised Karzai and warned that the US risked becoming ever more deeply
engaged, with no way to extricate itself. McChrystal told Rolling Stone he
felt "betrayed" by the leak and questioned Eikenberry's motives: "Here's one
that covers his flank for the history books. Now if we fail, they can say 'I
told you so'."
The aides also criticise leading politicians, including Senators John McCain
and John Kerry, for turning up in Afghanistan, criticising Karzai and then
getting back to Washington for the Sunday talk shows.
But the secretary of state, Hillary Clinton, is praised by the general's
aides for watching his back and giving him "what he needs".
Rolling Stone said the general was present when many of the comments quoted
were made by his aides. The entire tone of the article has infuriated the
White House, but the president now faces a dilemma.
Obama became the first president in more than 50 years to sack a top general
in wartime when he removed the then US commander in Afghanistan, David
McKiernan, and replaced him with McChrystal. To fire McChrystal now would
suggest misjudgment by the president as well as removing the architect of an
Afghan military strategy that is far from complete. But it may be politically
difficult to leave in place a general who has shown such public lack of
confidence in those appointed by the White House to work with him.
McChrystal did not make any friends at the White House when his confidential
report urging Obama to send 40,000 more troops to Afghanistan leaked.
The administration felt that the general was trying to strongarm the
president by making him look weak if he did not agree. Obama did agree to
most of McChrystal's request, including another 30,000 troops.
What McChrystal said
The Rolling Stone article is a broad assessment of General Stanley
McChrystal's strategy in Afghanistan and hisan assessment of his critics.
It describes how, even though the general voted for Barack Obama, the two
failed to connect. McChrystal thought Obama looked "uncomfortable and
intimidated" by the roomful of military brass at their first meeting. A
second, one-onto-one encounter at the White House did not go much better.
"Obama clearly didn't know anything about him, who he was. Here's the guy
who's going to run his fucking war, but he didn't seem very engaged. The boss
was pretty disappointed," an aide to McChrystal told the magazine.
Later, McChrystal objected to going to an official Nato dinner in Paris: "I'd
rather have my ass kicked by a roomful of people than go out to this dinner."
One of the aides was asked by Rolling Stone who the dinner was with. "Some
French minister," he replied. "It's fucking gay."
The article describes the behaviour of McChrystal and his aides, who call
themselves Team America, at an Irish bar in Parisare were reportedly drunk,
while two officers did an Irish jig, mixed with steps from a traditional
Afghan wedding dance. They were singing a slurred song about Afghanistan.
McChrystal said: "I'd die for them. And they'd die for me."
An unnamed British officer is quoted as saying: "The fucking lads love Stan
McChrystal. You'd be out in Somewhere, Iraq, and someone would take a knee
beside you and a corporal would be like 'Who the fuck is that?' And it's
fucking Stan McChrystal."
The article relates the story of a 25-year-old staff sergeant, Israel Arroyo,
who sent an email to McChrystal from the front line in Afghanistan: "I am
writing because it was said you don't care about the troops and have made it
harder to defend ourselves".
The general replied within hours: "I'm saddened by accusations that I don't
care about soldiers, as it is something I suspect any soldier takes both
personally and professionally – at least I do. But I know perceptions depend
upon your perspective at the time, and I respect that every soldier's view is
his own".
McChrystal then turned up at Arroyo's base and went on foot patrol with him
in an attempt to understand what the soldier meant.
During a later visit to the same forward base after a soldier is killed,
another soldier said to McChrystal: "Sir, some of the guys here, sir, think
we're losing, sir."
The general tried to explain his counter-insurgency strategy but afterwards
said he did not think it had been been persuasive.
"This is the philosophical part that works with thinktanks. But it doesn't
get the same reception from infantry companies," he said.
A senior aide to McChrystal said that the war would be even more unpopular
with Americans if they thought about it: "If Americans pulled back and
started paying attention to this war, it would become even less popular."
---------------
個人評論:
美軍駐阿富汗軍事指揮官McChrystal在滾石雜誌上的驚人發言,使歐巴馬陷入窘境,
據雜誌刊載,McChrystal把歐巴馬身邊所有的軍事顧問,包括副總統拜登與歐巴馬本人
都揶揄了一番。並認為歐巴馬根本不了解他的指揮官,他對歐巴馬的第一印象是「令人
不舒服且充滿威脅性」。McChrystal 因為這些言談而面臨可能被更換的命運,目前歐巴
馬正在與其做最後的會談,但外界大多認為這位指揮官已觸怒了白宮的敏感神經。若分
析歐巴馬在美國的局勢,經濟改革和漏油事件已經讓總統與幕僚焦頭爛額,唯一能期中
選舉中保持優勢的議題就是阿富汗戰爭,美軍較過去八年小有斬獲,且阿富汗政府也漸
漸穩定,然而最高指揮官的一番批評卻又使輿論對歐巴馬唯一可自豪的國安政策不利。
若我們回過頭來看McChrystal這個人,其實歐巴馬相當中用他指揮特種部隊的快捷能力,
國防部長與阿富汗總統目前都相當支持他,認為他只是無心之過。但McChrystal 認為歐
巴馬沒有給予他足夠的軍力,與他要求的數字差了3萬之多,且派出一堆外交與國安官僚
指導美軍的行動,讓他的能力沒有得到充分發揮。事實上,目前美軍在阿富汗的軍事能力
並無問題,實際上是外交溝通與扶植當地政府的策略陷入困境,如果歐巴馬執意要讓外交
官僚與軍隊文武並進,就必須解決目前拖累美軍進展的病徵,包括解決阿富汗貪腐問題。
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