McChrystal Slams DoD Bureaucracy

The commander of U.S. and NATO forces in Afghanistan bitterly complained in an interview Sunday about the Pentagon bureaucracy that he said was hampering his efforts to fight insurgents.

In a profile on CBS television’s “60 minutes,” Army Gen. Stanley McChrystal said he faced pressure to move quickly from Defense Secretary Robert Gates while the Pentagon had moved slowly to get officers assigned to his staff.

“The secretary talks in terms of 12 to 18 months to show a significant change and then we eat up two or three months just on sort of getting the tools out of the tool box,” McChrystal said, according to a transcript of the show to air later Sunday. Total Article

Update: Storm

The storm started last night about midnight with some lightning and a little rain. We hit the sack about then but did not sleep too well as the boat was really rock n rolling all night. This AM about 0700 hrs I turned on the wind speed indicator and the maximum recorded gusts have been 34 knots as of 0930. Rain is almost continous but not real heavy. Barometric pressure is 29.22″ and rising slowly. Some trees at the marina have lost some branches. We have buttoned up and turned on the heater as it is a chilly damp condition. More later. Reading “Angel Fire East” by Terry Brooks.