Yes, NATO is a complete and total joke and just another way to waste our hard earned tax dollars on globalization. Yes, I fully understand that certain positions require a certain level of professionalism and diplomacy. But the fact that Major General Fuller was relieved from his command (while silly) is not what I’m interested in as much as what he said to get him kicked to the curb. The Telegraph reports:
Major General Peter Fuller had said that the Kabul regime was “isolated from reality” and he hoped that the next Afghan president would be an improvement on Mr Karzai.
His comments in a media interview prompted a quick response from the Nato coalition which immediately relieved the two-star general of his duties.
Maj Gen Fuller, who is a deputy commander in Nato’s mission to build the Afghan forces, was particularly forthright about what he saw as Kabul’s ingratitude for America’s efforts.
America is spending billions of pounds per year to build an army of 195,000 and police force of 157,000 by November 2012, as a cornerstone of the strategy to withdraw by putting the Afghan government in charge of security.
However, last month Mr Karzai shocked many of his allies and countrymen by stating Afghanistan would side with Islamabad if America ever went to war with Pakistan.
Maj Gen Fuller said: “Why don’t you just poke me in the eye with a needle! 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’?”
“When they are going to have a presidential election, you hope they get a guy that’s more articulate in public,” he told the Politico website.
He said that the fledgling Afghan military was demanding it be given tanks and fighter jets while appearing not to understand America was going through an economic downturn.
He had been told that the Afghan military only wanted battle tanks to “put them on a flat bed and drive them around in a parade”, he said.
He continued: “You can teach a man how to fish, or you can give them a fish.
“We’re giving them fish while they’re learning, and they want more fish! [They say,] ‘I like swordfish, how come you’re giving me cod?’ Guess what? Cod’s on the menu today.”
America continues to enjoy uneasy relations with President Karzai, with the two allies lurching from one spat to another.
General John Allen, commander of Nato troops in Afghanistan, issued a statement calling the remarks “unfortunate” and saying that Maj Gen Fuller had been relieved of his duties, “effective immediately”.
He said: “These unfortunate comments are neither indicative of our current solid relationship with the government of Afghanistan, its leadership, or our joint commitment to prevail here in Afghanistan.”
Maj Gen Fuller joined the United States army in 1980 after graduating from the University of Vermont with a degree in History and Political Science. His biography says he holds the Distinguished Service Medal.
Until relieved of his duties, he was the deputy commander of programmes at the Nato training mission in Kabul, overseeing plans to equip, train, supply and build bases for the Afghan forces from a $10 billion budget.
His comments appeared to find favour among several military bloggers. “General Fuller was spot on and was then fired. You see no one wants to hear the truth,” said one commentator.
He is not the first coalition officer to be sacked for outspoken remarks. Gen Stanley McChrystal, former Nato chief commander in Afghanistan, was sacked for belittling senior members of Barack Obama’s administration during a Rolling Stone interview in June 2010.
Two months later, Col Lawrence Sellin was sent home after publishing a rant against the bureaucracy and endless PowerPoint briefings at Nato’s Kabul headquarters.
As long as we stand with Israel, the Middle East will despise us. All the money, weapons, well wishes, bows and sympathizing in the world will not change their hearts or their intentions. Of course what Major General Fuller said is true, it’s just a shame that the truth gets you fired in the Obama administration.
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