US general Booted for Remarks About Afghan War

[Created4]

Wow, the Ron Paul campaign should get a hold of this guy....

---------------
A top U.S. general in Afghanistan was relieved of duty Friday for "inappropriate public comments" after calling the Afghan government "isolated from reality" and President Hamid Karzai "erratic."

Maj. Gen. Peter Fuller, deputy commander for training Afghan security forces, blasted the Afghan government, military and Karzai in an interview with POLITICO published on Thursday.

He called Karzai "erratic" for recently saying Afghanistan would side with Pakistan if the latter declared war on the U.S.

"Why don’t you just poke me in the eye with a needle!," Fuller was quoted as saying. "You’ve got to be kidding me … I’m sorry, we just gave you $11.6 billion and now you’re telling me, 'I don’t really care'?"

Fuller also said he had trouble explaining to Afghan officials that Western funds were limited. "You guys are isolated from reality" he said he told Afghan generals. "If you're in a very poor country like Afghanistan, you think that America has roads paved in gold, everybody lives in Hollywood."

"I actually had someone senior tell me, 'All I want to do is put them [tanks] on a flat bed and drive them around in a parade'," he added.

Fuller said Afghan leaders "don't understand the sacrifices that America is making to provide for their security. And I think that's part of my job to educate 'em."

Source: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/45169527/ns/world_news-south_and_central_asia/#.TrRfNUOXudA

[Created4]

Sorry for the typo in capitalization in headline - was copying from MSM....

[Created4]

Here the Politico story that got the General sacked: http://www.politico.com/news/stories/1111/67523.html

[Knightskye]

Do you think he's against the war or just frustrated with the lack of progress?

[Created4]

Do you think he's against the war or just frustrated with the lack of progress?

I don't know all his views on the war, as it would be hard to get a general to admit we shouldn't be there in the first place, but the fact that he got sacked because he was upset with the way they were spending money fits nicely into Ron Paul's theme that we are spending too much on these wars and we can't afford them. Here is a general who spoke up about the abuse of spending and then got sacked. I think this is an opportunity for the Paul campaign to win over some in the GOP. Why did the Obama administration sack him??

[HOLLYWOOD]

"Truth is Treason In An Empire Of Lies..."

[flightlesskiwi]

see:
Poll: 1 in 3 Vets Sees Iraq, Afghan Wars as Wastes (http://www.military.com/news/article/poll-1-in-3-vets-sees-iraq-afghan-wars-as-wastes.html)

also:

Times poll finds a souring mood among troops (http://www.armytimes.com/news/2011/09/military-times-poll-finds-souring-mood-091411w/)


“A lot of [the Afghan security forces] are just kind of like, ‘Well, we’ll fight with you here today and if tomorrow you all leave, then we’ll just fight for the next guy who comes along,’ said a 33-year-old Army captain who deployed to Afghanistan in 2009 and worked as a mentor to Afghan security forces. He requested anonymity because he said his command discourages talking to the media.

Michael Menning, a recently retired Air Force colonel and hospital administrator, said he became skeptical of the mission in Afghanistan after working with Afghans trying to set up a medical facility.

“They really have no interest in professional development, in learning how to run a hospital,” Menning said. “They really just think, ‘Hey, build us the hospital and we’ll run it the way we’ve always run it.’”

The pessimism is also fueled by a belief that the country is hopelessly corrupt. A 31-year-old Army sergeant who deployed to Afghanistan in 2010 said many troops believe the Afghan central government and many tribal leaders play both sides of the fence.

“Everybody knows that a majority of them still have ties with the Taliban,” said the sergeant, who asked to remain anonymous because he was not authorized to speak to the press.

[Created4]

see:
Poll: 1 in 3 Vets Sees Iraq, Afghan Wars as Wastes (http://www.military.com/news/article/poll-1-in-3-vets-sees-iraq-afghan-wars-as-wastes.html)

also:

Times poll finds a souring mood among troops (http://www.armytimes.com/news/2011/09/military-times-poll-finds-souring-mood-091411w/)

Troop support is a great thing, but just think if this general now looking for a job came on board.....

[LibForestPaul]

“A lot of [the Afghan security forces] are just kind of like, ‘Well, we’ll fight with you here today and if tomorrow you all leave, then we’ll just fight for the next guy who comes along,’ said a 33-year-old Army captain
“They really have no interest in professional development, in learning how to run a hospital,” Menning said. “They really just think, ‘Hey, build us the hospital and we’ll run it the way we’ve always run it.’”


If these stmts are true, apparently Afghan's see reality far clearer than half of American's.

[moderate libertarian]

Not surprising, there has been increasing trust deficit between US and Afghans in an increasingly dysfunctional relationship brewing under Obama's borderline war criminal "good war" policies.

http://www.ronpaulforums.com/showthread.php?326752-13-US-troops-killed-in-Afghan-attack-3-Australian-troops-killed-by-Afghan-army-officer

[Created4]

"It was not clear what Fuller would do next, but such disciplinary action usually ends military careers."

The Ron Paul campaign should look this guy up!

I just read Fox News' write up on the story. What a joke! They didn't even mention any of the quotes on the ridiculous spending or the fact that Karzai said he would side with Pakistan if they attacked the U.S. They just made it look like Fuller went off the deep end. This needs to come up in the next debate, and Karazi's statements need to be shown to the American people, particularly the GOP since they all read/watch FOX and FOX is censoring this (for now.)

[pcosmar]

The Ron Paul campaign should look this guy up!



Hell NO.
If he had any integrity in the first place he would not be in his position. Had he any integrity he would have either resigned long ago or shot the bastard giving him orders to kill the population of a sovereign land for NO GOOD REASON.

If we had any decent military leaders they would be pointing their arms at Washington DC.

[flightlesskiwi]

Hell NO.
If he had any integrity in the first place he would not be in his position. Had he any integrity he would have either resigned long ago or shot the bastard giving him orders to kill the population of a sovereign land for NO GOOD REASON.

If we had any decent military leaders they would be pointing their arms at Washington DC.

the way i figure it, he was an 0-8 and he wanted out. precisely why he made those statements publicly. you don't make it to that rank and not know how to play the (PC PR) game.

[milo10]

Hell NO.
If he had any integrity in the first place he would not be in his position. Had he any integrity he would have either resigned long ago or shot the bastard giving him orders to kill the population of a sovereign land for NO GOOD REASON.

If we had any decent military leaders they would be pointing their arms at Washington DC.

That same logic could be applied to the soldiers.

Many people enter the military with cloudy ideas of what it means, and it takes years for reality to set in for many of the better ones. When you are career military, reaching the rank of general, you have both a lot to lose and a sense of responsibility for the troops under your command and perhaps the innocent people in the land you are invading, and a hope that you can make the best of bad situations when they are presented to you.

I don't completely disagree with you, I am just offering a different perspective.

As for the general, give him another year or two to shake off his conditioning, and there is a good chance you will see him on Adam Kokesh's show. :)

[pcosmar]

the way i figure it, he was an 0-8 and he wanted out. precisely why he made those statements publicly. you don't make it to that rank and not know how to play the (PC PR) game.

But some know when to hang it up.

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,336849,00.html

Fallon claimed ongoing misperceptions about differences between his ideas and U.S. policy are making it too difficult for him to operate, Gates said,

The misperceptions relate to an article published last week in Esquire magazine that portrayed Fallon as opposed to President Bush's Iran policy. It described Fallon as a lone voice against taking military action to stop the Iranian nuclear program.

William J. Fallon was critical of policies, to the point that he resigned over it.

[vita3]

Ron does need a strong group of creditable military leaders by his side, supporting & working on the plan of closing bases around the world & ending current wars. This adds real creditabilty to the issue, rather than him just giving speeches over & over about it.

Not sure if this is the guy to be apart of the team, but seems dead balls on.

[Created4]

Ron does need a strong group of creditable military leaders by his side, supporting & working on the plan of closing bases around the world & ending current wars. This adds real creditabilty to the issue, rather than him just giving speeches over & over about it.

Not sure if this is the guy to be apart of the team, but seems dead balls on.

Even if he is not "part of the team" they can sure bring it up and show how he was treated by the current administration. Considering how the GOP is against just about anything Obama does, this is a great situation for Dr. Paul.

Another good guy who spent time in Iraq and has documented the waste of spending is Peter Van Buren. I know Dr. Paul has met with him. The State Department tried to stop his book from being distributed:


http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=8MSJFpkfOj0&noredirect=1#!

Here's his blog:

http://wemeantwell.com/blog/2011/10/28/state%e2%80%99s-actions-against-peter-van-buren-offer-a-few-lessons-on-use-of-classified-info-power/