I know it was just a momentary lapse, but I got a kick out
of this mistake in the transcript of Tuesday's confirmation hearing to make Lt.
Gen. Stanley McChrystal the commander of the war in Afghanistan:
SEN. UDALL: In a sense
you're distinguishing as well between the big "T" Taliban and the
little "t" Taliban. You talked
about the hard-core Taliban elements that you believe are irredeemable, but you
alluded to those Taliban who joined the fight because that's what Afghans do in
the spring, join the fight because it's the only way they can provide for their
families.
GEN. MCCHRYSTAL:
Absolutely, sir. Like Admiral
Stavridis, I'm a friend of David Kilcullen, and I think a lot of what he says
about the accidental gorilla is true.
And so I think what we've got to do is eliminate the people who do it
for other than just absolutely strong ideological reasons.
More substantially, I also was struck by an exchange with
Adm. James Stavridis, nominated to become commander of NATO and the top U.S.
officer in Europe. It hadn't occurred to me that his ethnic Greek heritage
would be of concern to certain members of NATO. But apparently the Turks have
wondered a bit:
SEN. SAXBY CHAMBLISS (R-GA):
. . . Admiral Stavridis, I was in your ethnic home, as you know, over
the last week, and had the opportunity to observe what's going on in Greece,
particularly with regard to what's happening with the migration of folks out of
Afghanistan and Pakistan through Turkey, through Greece sometimes staying in
Turkey, sometimes staying in Greece, causing some problems there. But Turkey obviously is a very strategic
country right now. It's European
orientation, NATO membership and enduring relationship make it a bridge of
stability between the Euro-Atlantic community and the nations of Central Asia
and the Arabian Gulf. How would you
describe our relationship with Turkey today?
And how would situation in Northern Iraq with the PKK and the KGK
threaten that relationship?
ADM. STAVRIDIS: Thank you,
Senator. It's probably worth nothing
that although I'm ethnically Greek, my grandfather was actually born in Turkey,
and came through Greece on his way to the United States. So I have I think a
cultural understanding of both of those nations. Turkey is an incredibly
important friend and ally to the United States. I would categorize our
relationship at the moment, from what I can see before going to theater, if
confirmed, and actually meeting with our Turkish military counterparts, from
all that I can see it is a strong relationship.
We are conducting a great deal of information and intelligence-sharing
with our friends. We recognize the
threat to Turkey posed by the Kurdish separatist movements. And I believe it is both an important and a
strong relationship and one that I intend to focus on if confirmed.
Re Turkish concern about a Greek sounding admiral:
I don't think they've gotten over that Troy business. I know the Greeks haven't.
Re EURCOM:
Are we required not to notice the absurdly indirect rationalization of Iran, for placing strategic missile defenses in central-north Europe, facing Russia? Awfully wide lapels there on the King's fantasy tux.
Re SOUTHCOM:
The S. American Drug War has achieved operational stability. Supply, movement and price are all still in great shape, and look to remain so well into the next decade.
C-SPAN online of SOUTHCOM/EURCOM/Af-Pak McChrystals senate confirmation hearing is linked at:
http://www.pbs.org/newshour/indepth_coverage/asia/afghanistan/
A user friendly 'view in timeline' video player. C-SPAN is doing god's work. (scan by dragging cursor)
I do not believe that many are aware of the 20th century events that led to the mass expulsion of Greeks from Turkey and Turks from Greece. I'd recommend Andrew Mango's excellent biography of Atatürk for one view of this period, especially the events in formerly Greek held Izmir. It's also interesting to see Greek Prime Minister Venizelos's map of strategic objectives for Greece following WWI.
On the gorillas, I have a request: We're going to be seeing the guerrilla/gorilla mistake frequently from now on. Whenever this happens, would you please post, and encourage others to post as well, photographs of General Ursus?
...they say the darnest things even when they have bamboozled some provincials into placing them in a place of responsibility. Guess they don't know how to deal with the world outside the hockshop crowd.
Uh, this is the same Senate that wants everyone to be oblivious to ethnic origins, right?
All in the interest of impartiality... but I suppose the standards are different for judges.
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