A textbook example of “indexing” by the mainstream media

In a textbook example of “indexing” by the mainstream media, a recent Rolling Stone article by Michael Hastings entitled The Runaway General, has been indexed by the mainstream media under the category of personal controversy, rather than the more correct category of military quagmire, or failed military strategy. The article by Michael Hastings, causing a firestorm of controversy in Washington DC, was intended to be a serious look at the direction the war in Afghanistan was taking after the Obama administration committed to the counterinsurgency (COIN) strategy advocated by McChrystal in October 2009. However, due to the herd mentality of the American press, the story is being framed as a showdown between President Obama and General McChrystal for the people who have not taken the time to read the article in its entirety.

The real story why General Stanley McChrystal is being called to Washington DC is not because of the derogatory statements the General and his staff said about Vice President Biden or other political leaders, but because political leaders are upset General McChrystal allowed a reporter to hear soldiers in Afghanistan voice their frustrations at how the war was being waged and openly questioning the counterinsurgency (COIN) strategy that General McChrystal advocated for back in 2009.

While the remarks made about Vice President Joe "Bite Me" Biden are getting all the attention, the more important aspect of the war itself are being downplayed and ignored. It is disappointing that more attention has not been focused on some of the remarks in the Rolling Stone article by McChrystal's chief of operation, Maj.Gen.Bill Mayville.

Even those who support McChrystal and his strategy of counterinsurgency know that whatever the general manages to accomplish in Afghanistan, it's going to look more like Vietnam than Desert Storm. "It's not going to look like a win, smell like a win or taste like a win," says Maj. Gen. Bill Mayville, who serves as chief of operations for McChrystal. "This is going to end in an argument."

Another more important part of the article that the main stream press is not discussing is that the war in Afghanistan is considered by many people in the CIA as not being a vital interest to the United States. Tucked away on the last page of the article, the following paragraph is important to republish.

When it comes to Afghanistan, history is not on McChrystal's side. The only foreign invader to have any success here was Genghis Khan – and he wasn't hampered by things like human rights, economic development and press scrutiny. The COIN doctrine, bizarrely, draws inspiration from some of the biggest Western military embarrassments in recent memory: France's nasty war in Algeria (lost in 1962) and the American misadventure in Vietnam (lost in 1975). McChrystal, like other advocates of COIN, readily acknowledges that counterinsurgency campaigns are inherently messy, expensive and easy to lose. "Even Afghans are confused by Afghanistan," he says. But even if he somehow manages to succeed, after years of bloody fighting with Afghan kids who pose no threat to the U.S. homeland, the war will do little to shut down Al Qaeda, which has shifted its operations to Pakistan. Dispatching 150,000 troops to build new schools, roads, mosques and water-treatment facilities around Kandahar is like trying to stop the drug war in Mexico by occupying Arkansas and building Baptist churches in Little Rock. "It's all very cynical, politically," says Marc Sageman, a former CIA case officer who has extensive experience in the region. "Afghanistan is not in our vital interest – there's nothing for us there."

For politicians from both political parties, any article, like the one published in Rolling Stone that quotes several members of the military saying that the Afghanistan War cannot be won, would risk throwing the whole current political environment into chaos. Political leaders of today are incapable of leading the country and are too afraid to upset their wealthy corporate campaign contributors in the military industrial complex. These spineless politicians would rather continue bankrupting the country and allowing American service members to die in the world’s fifth poorest country, rather than stopping a war that over 53 percent of Americans now believe is not worth fighting.

By focusing attention on the disparaged comments made by McChrystal and his staff, allows the political establishment to deflect attention away from the failed counterinsurgency strategy which has only succeeded in creating a never-ending demand for the primary product supplied by the military and its corporate partners: perpetual war.