What is Gareth Porter smoking?

[Entropy]

US-AFGHANISTAN: McKiernan Gets Control of Disputed Raids

An order issued Tuesday at the direction of CENTCOM chief Gen. David Petraeus gives McKiernan authority over all operations by Special Operations units stationed in the country, as Col. Gregory Julian, McKiernan's spokesperson, confirmed in an e-mail to IPS. The order, which has not been made public, modifies previous command arrangements which had excluded U.S. Special Operations forces from McKiernan’s command authority.

Although the order follows a period of rising Afghan protests against Special Operations raids, there is no indication that Petraeus intends for the change in command arrangements to bring about any fundamental change in such raids.

Nevertheless, it appears that those raids have become a political hot potato, which Petraeus prefers to be in McKiernan’s hands rather than his own, particularly as Afghanistan heads into a politically charged period leading up to a presidential election in August.

and

The new order is the latest indication that neither McKiernan nor Petraeus, who is his boss, have been eager to take responsibility for the Special Operations raids and their human and political consequences.

and

But Petraeus apparently prefers to have McKiernan bear the direct responsibility for operations that are likely to generate even greater Afghan and international outrage over the continued killing of civilians. In the absence of Tuesday’s order, Petraeus’s command authority over the Joint Special Operations headquarters in Afghanistan would have put him squarely in the line of fire were the raids to become a major political issue.

The order, however, puts Gen. McKiernan between Petraeus and the issue.

Would someone please explain to Mr. Porter the concept of "unity of command?"

[Ken White]

USSOCOM and USCentCom...

Both located at MacDill -- which may have confused Porter -- which confirms my estimation of the MSM as woefully ignorant...

[Entropy]

I don't think it's ignorance. He is arguing here that Gen. Petraeus made this change in order to insulate himself from the political consequences of noncombatant deaths in Afghanistan and not for some legitimate military reason. Way beyond ignorance IMO!

[Schmedlap]

What is Gareth Porter smoking?

I believe that the herb of choice among the media types is the dried mature flowers and subtending leaves of pistillate plants of Cannabis sativa. The intellectual laziness exhibited in the article is consistent with the behavior of routine inhalers. The assumption of a conspiracy or coverup is also consistent with the paranoia exhibited by those under the influence of its psychoactive ingredient and consistent with the prejudices of media types suspected of routinely inhaling it.

The herb of choice among his literary subjects is likely thin strands of fresh processed leaves of plants in the genus Nicotiana, though the strands are generally placed in the lower lip, rather than being lit and inhaled. The physical aggressiveness and mental alertness exhibited by those individuals is a common trait and likely enhances the sense of paranoia towards them, and hardens the prejudices against them, from Porter and his fellow tokers.

A professional profiler could probably go into greater detail.

[J Wolfsberger]

I believe that the herb of choice among the media types is the dried mature flowers and subtending leaves of pistillate plants of Cannabis sativa. The intellectual laziness exhibited in the article is consistent with the behavior of routine inhalers. The assumption of a conspiracy or coverup is also consistent with the paranoia exhibited by those under the influence of its psychoactive ingredient and consistent with the prejudices of media types suspected of routinely inhaling it.

The herb of choice among his literary subjects is likely thin strands of fresh processed leaves of plants in the genus Nicotiana, though the strands are generally placed in the lower lip, rather than being lit and inhaled. The physical aggressiveness and mental alertness exhibited by those individuals is a common trait and likely enhances the sense of paranoia towards them, and hardens the prejudices against them, from Porter and his fellow tokers.

A professional profiler could probably go into greater detail.

ROFL!

Well done!

[Rakkasan]

Gareth Porter promotes his own political agenda under a thin guise of impartial journalism. He's anti-military and likes to foment previously non-existent drama between the Obama administration and senior military leaders. He does this primarily by utilizing "sources" that he has deep within the administration and the Pentagon. I, however, have a sneaking suspicion that he makes up his "sources."

Porter's methods are questionable at best, and his conclusions are laughable considering how little he knows about the military.