Finalizing a move announced earlier this month by Gen. David Petraeus, NATO officials say that they will move forward with a “major reorganization” of the command structure in Afghanistan.
The reorganization would place some 20,000 US troops in the nation as part of “Operation Enduring Freedom” under direct NATO control, placing them directly under the command of Gen. Stanley McChrystal.
Petraeus had already placed the troops under McChrystal’s operational control, but the consolidation will, officials say, streamline the command structure for the ongoing Afghan War, eight and a half years after the initial invasion.
The moves come after last month’s massacre of busloads of civilians by US special forces brought increased scrutiny to the troops, which at that point were operating independent of McChrystal’s command. NATO spokesmen denied that reining in the special forces played a factor in the decision, though this is widely believed to be the case.
The problem with creating extra-judicial "Golems" to murder and intimidate is that sooner or later the Golems runs amok. Then the creator must either deal with his creations– or make others (NATO) deal with them. McChrystal probably thought he could run a successful "Salvador Option" in Afghanistan but belatedly discovered how uncontrollable his people became as they stared into the dark well of accountability-free murder. The corroding presence of military contractors may also have played a significant part in the failure of the Salvador Option in Afghanistan. Both the General and his Golems have become a liability. Lord Acton was right, "Power tends to corrupt, absolute power to corrupt absolutely." McChrystal will survive– but his Golems just may meet their end in a remote Afghan ravine, the victims of an unfortunate friendly-fire bombing incident. But I'm sure the establishment will offer their families sincere apologies– after all, they have had a lot of practice dispensing them to Afghanis