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A warning as war wears on

27 Sep 2009 - Preaching the News for Sunday

The righteous one offers no resistance to those who murder him, we hear in the Letter of James this Sunday. The top United States and NATO commander in Afghanistan warned that without more troops soon, the allies would not be able to offer sufficient resistance to the growing Taliban insurgency, and the eight-year mission "will likely result in failure." General Stanley McChrystal's urgent assessment is one factor that has led the Obama administration to a wholesale reassessment of the Afghan war effort. Others include the deteriorating conditions on the ground, widespread Afghan government corruption, and the messy outcome of the recent Afghan elections with their widespread claims of fraud. "A counterinsurgency strategy can only work if you have a credible and legitimate Afghan partner. That's in doubt now," said Bruce O. Riedel, who led the administration's strategy review of Afghanistan and Pakistan earlier this year. "Part of the reason you are seeing hesitancy to jump deeper into the pool is that they are looking to see if they can make lemonade out of the lemons we got from the Afghan election." Although the president has said that a stable Afghanistan is central to the security of the United States, advisers said he is also wary of becoming trapped in an overseas quagmire. Increasingly restless members of Congress, echoing their war-weary constituents, are calling for McChrystal to appear before Congress to discuss his assessment of the war. Thus far the Pentagon has rebuffed the requests, saying the general needs to focus on the war operation. McChrystal's stark assessment was contained in a confidential report prepared in August that was leaked to Bob Woodward, the Washington Post journalist famed for his scoops going back to the Vietnam-era Pentagon Papers. Source: Articles by Bob Woodward and Howard Kurtz for the Washington Post, Peter Baker and Elisabeth Bumiller for the New York Times, and Yochi J. Dreazen, Neil King, Jr., and Peter Spiegel for the Wall Street Journal

afghanistan war stanley mcchrystal bruce o riedel bob woodward
U.S. troops face deadly assault as Washington debates strategy

11 Oct 2009 - Preaching the News for Sunday

Nothing is preferable to wisdom, says the first reading this Sunday. While a fierce gun battle in Afghanistan over the weekend killed eight U.S. soldiers and captured more than 20 Afghan security troops, the Obama administration and the top U.S. and NATO commander in Afghanistan differed over the wisest course in the eight-year Afghan war. In a speech last week before the Institute for Strategic Studies in London, Gen. Stanley McChrystal said that decreasing troops would be a "short-sighted" strategy. The general has called for 40,000 more troops in Afghanistan and plans to shift U.S. troops away from remote outposts that are difficult to defend and move them into more heavily populated areas as part of his new plan to focus on protecting Afghan civilians. Washington, however, is not sold on the strategy. McChrystal's recommendations have been met with deep skepticism among some of President Barack Obama's most senior advisers. Vice President Joe Biden was among the administration officials who challenged the assumptions behind McChrystal's request during a three-hour meeting of Obama's war council last week. Among the biggest questions being asked in the White House is whether the Afghan government can be a reliable partner in economic development and improved governance--especially in the wake of ongoing corruption and the still-disputed August presidential election. "Turning an illegitimate government into a legitimate one is simply beyond the capacities of foreigners, however wealthy or militarily unmatched," said Stephen Holmes, a law professor at New York University. At a meeting Tuesday with a bipartisan group of congressional leaders, Obama reportedly ruled out substantially reducing American forces in Afghanistan or shifting the mission to only hunting terrorists there. Source: Articles by Robert Reid and Rahim Faiez for Associated Press, Sheldon Alberts for Canwest News Service, and James Traub, Peter Baker, and Jeff Zeleny for the New York Times

barack obama afghanistan war joe biden stanley mcchrystal stephen holmes
McChrystal reporting for Ivy League duty

22 Aug 2010 - Preaching the News for Sunday

Though necessary at times for the greater good, discipline can be painful, this Sunday’s reading from the Letter to the Hebrews tells us. Gen. Stanley McChrystal would likely agree in the wake of his forced retirement from military command in July. McChrystal is moving on with his career, however, with a post at an unexpected place—Yale University. Hebrews counsels that life’s trials can be rich opportunities on our spiritual path if we see them as discipline, as training in new ways of seeing and living. In making a fresh start at Yale, McChrystal appears to have embraced the lesson. Many retired four-star generals become consultants to the defense industry, mentors to the military, or members of a variety of defense-related corporate boards. But McChrystal is taking a different tack in agreeing to be a lecturer at the Ivy League school, where he will teach a graduate-level course in leadership at the Jackson Institute for Global Affairs, opening this fall in New Haven. McChrystal’s new beginning can provide inspiration for anyone struggling to move on after a keen disappointment or after making a mistake they believe has “ruined their life forever.” God specializes in new beginnings! Source: An article by Gordon Lubold for Polito.com

discipline stanley mcchrystal yale university jackson institute for global affairs
A second chance at public service

17 Apr 2011 - Preaching the News for Sunday

In the “Servant of the Lord” oracle featured in this Sunday’s reading from the Book of Isaiah, the prophet obediently accepts criticism and rebuff, trusting that he will not be disgraced in doing so. Retired Army General Stanley McChrystal accepted criticism for controversial comments made by subordinates in a magazine profile last summer and as a result was relieved of the command of forces in Afghanistan. Now he has been invited back to public service by the Obama administration to help oversee a high-profile initiative in support of military families. McChrystal will lead a three-member advisory board of “Joining Forces,” which will encourage companies, schools, philanthropic and religious groups, and local communities to respond to the high stress endured by families of active-duty personnel, reservists, and veterans by striving to meet their special needs. The high-profile program launched Tuesday at the White House by First Lady Michelle Obama highlights the fact that while the United States has been described as a "nation at war,” the burden of combat is carried by less than one percent of the population. The military has been fighting for almost a decade, the longest sustained conflict in the nation’s history. And unlike previous wars, the burden has been borne by an all-volunteer force. Loyalty and faithfulness in times of adversity are key themes in this Sunday’s readings, says Prepare the Word scripture commentator Alice Camille. They are also central values to military life. McChrystal said Sunday that the Obama administration’s invitation to return to public service should be seen as proof to those in uniform, and to the American public, that there were no hard feelings on either side of the civilian-military divide. “We can prove it’s about something bigger,” he said. “It sends a strong, positive message that this is about taking care of our people.” Source: Articles by Thom Shanker for the New York Times and Lynn Sweet for the Chicago Sun-Times

stanley mcchrystal michelle obama loyalty joining forces military families