McChrystal monopoly
Prescient March 1, 2010 photo in Marjeh
US Army photo via ISAFMedia on Flickr

AFP reported Friday morning that Stanley McChrystal has been given even more control of forces in Afghanistan:

McChrystal is already commander of US and NATO forces in Afghanistan but the additional authorities will give him greater control over the estimated 121,000 international troops in the country than any of his predecessors have had.

He "will have US operational control of all US forces less a small number of special operations forces," an American defense official told AFP on condition of anonymity.

As the NATO commander, the only forces not under McChrystal’s control will be a special US task force that handles detainees, the small number of special operations forces and some support troops from other nations, the official said.

As for those groups McChrystal won’t "command", note that the task force that handles US prisoners is headed by McChrystal’s hand-picked close associate from their JSOC days. Also, as the former head of JSOC, it is to be assumed that McChrystal remains in contact with and works in close association with the current command structure of the group.

At the same time that McChrystal is solidifying his monopoly on power, he also is trying to achieve cosmetic improvement on the worst practice he employs: night raids.

According to Reuters, McChrystal has come up with a new tactic that he believes will make the abhorrent practice of disappearing Afghan civilians in the middle of the night acceptable — now all such raids will include Afghan troops, too:

U.S. and NATO troops in Afghanistan will be permitted to carry out raids at night only when there are Afghan security forces present, their commander, U.S. General Stanley McChrystal, ordered on Friday.

Why is McChrystal attempting this ridiculous public relations ploy on night raids? Because the Karzai government is trying to get them stopped completely:

McChrystal’s order falls short of the outright ban on raids at night sought by President Hamid Karzai but would ensure that such raids took place only with Afghan authorities included in the planning and execution.

At a security conference in Munich last month, Karzai called for an end to civilian casualties, as well as an end to night raids and the arrest of Afghans in their homes, saying "the war on terror is not in the Afghan villages and homes".

Even though the article goes on to quote McChrystal as he describes his understanding that any homeowner would react violently to having their home invaded in the middle of the night and that the sovereignity of the home is especially important in Afghan culture, McChrystal still refuses to acknowledge that his practice of detaining large numbers of innocent civilians without charges in secret prisons is the primary driving force that fuels the insurgency. Ironically, the new orders even call for issuing receipts for reimbursement for property that is taken or destroyed in the raids, but there is no mention of "receipts" for the people who are disappeared. Is an Afghan civilian worth less than a broken lamp?

And we just gave this guy a monopoly on power. McChrystal needs more supervision, not less.