meet the new boss
Not only was McChrystal involved in the “shameful coverup of Pat Tillman’s friendly-fire death,” writes Joshua Foust. But “one unit under his command, the now-notorious Task Force 6-26, which was assigned to find HVTs, or High Value Targets in Iraq, is credited with the ultimate death of [al Qaeda in Iraq leader Moussab al-] Zarqawi. The problem is, along the way they faced accusations of running a secret camp that tortured prisoners, and they were implicated in at least two detainee deaths during torture sessions. Their camp, called Camp Nama, became something of a lightning rod after a ‘computer malfunction’ destroyed upwards of 70% of their records and an investigation into their conduct stalled out.”
Are we setting up for a Dirty War? It’s a common strategy in this kind of situation, although it doesn’t have a very good track record. More successful is the strategy of out-competing the insurgents for hearts and minds. This isn’t done with propaganda- not successfully, at least. It’s done with jobs and health clinics and roads.
Best strategy for this kind of situation is not to get into it.
