NATIONAL WEEKLY EDITION: "A Manhunter for Afghanistan: McChrystal must transcend his reputation to 'find, fix and finish' the enemy, sources say," by Ann Scott Tyson, Washington Post, 18-24 May 2009.
Most objective observers of the successful "surge" note that the additional bodies were the 3rd most important ingredient, after getting the force out of the big bases and into the communities, and after the serious manhunting by special operations forces of the biggest baddies. Petraeus and company are credited for the new approach on spreading out the force, and McChrystal is credited for the top-flight manhunting.
Now, as McChrystal heads into Afghanistan, he is advised to remember that killing baddies isn't enough. With Petraeus in CENTCOM, I doubt that particular lesson will be forgotten.
But here's the bit that caught my attention from the piece:
Military experts and officers point out that one of McChrystal's most important contributions in Iraq was to reach well beyond military circles to build personal relationships with a wide range of civilian officials--bringing together expertise in intelligence, forensics, finances and other fields in an interagency task force that strengthened his campaign against the insurgent group al-Qaeda in Iraq.
So the Manhunter truly understands the system-level approach, and he deserves some time to prove out in the new theater.
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