Soldiers at the Nato base in Afghanistan: General Stanley McChrystal found, to his fury, that many of his underlings were either drunk or hungover.Last Orders For Troops Arriving For Daily Duty With Hangovers -- Times Online
After a Nato airstrike killed as many as 125 people last week, General Stanley McChrystal was keen to get the situation under control — fast.
When he tried to contact his underlings to find out what had happened, however, he found, to his fury, that many of them were either drunk or too hungover to respond.
Complaining in his daily Commander’s Update that too many people had been “partying it up”, General McChrystal, head of International Forces in Afghanistan (Isaf), banned alcohol at his headquarters yesterday, admonishing staff for not having “their heads in the right place” on Friday morning — a few hours after the deadly attack.
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My Comment: I had to read this story twice to believe what I was actually reading.
One should not be surprised. These large bases have all the conveniences of home, and alcohol is one of them. General Stanley McChrystal may be focused on what needs to be done .... but he cannot undo the culture and tradition that exists for many of these military contingents .... and alcohol for the Europeans has always been a big one.
So .... who is going to win this war? The Taliban fighter who sips his tea and eats what he can while sleeping on the ground with a blanket and his belief in God, or NATO soldiers partying and getting drunk at the Tora Bora sports bar complete with flat-screen televisions and football memorabilia.
My money is on the Taliban fighter.
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