Mark Bowden's War Stories, From the Killing of Bin Laden to U.S. Drone Bombers

By Randy LoBasso
Add Comment Add Comment | Comments: 2 | Posted Jan. 29, 2013

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Well, the military stuff is just one branch of my work. I’ve actually written a lot about pro football, I write about crime, I write about 
science—I’m constantly working on one thing or another. Right now, I’ve got a terrific crime story I’m writing for Vanity Fair. I’m also writing a piece for The Atlantic about the evolution of the silent count in NFL football. So, there’s plenty. The main motivation for me is curiosity. I’m cursed or blessed with a tremendous amount of curiosity about things I don’t understand—and that would be most things.

Mark Bowden will speak with retired Gen. Stanley McChrystal at the Free Library of 
Philadelphia at noon on Thurs., Jan. 31. Free. 215.567.4341. freelibrary.org

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1. Guy Montag said... on Jan 30, 2013 at 09:16AM

“”…the author will speak at the Free Library of Philadelphia alongside retired Gen. Stanley McChrystal, former commander of U.S. forces in Afghanistan, who also has a book out [“My Share of the Task”].”

Someone should ask Gen. McChrystal why his portrayal of the JSOC interrogations that directly led to the 2006 killing of Abu Zarqawi totally contradicts the accounts of Marc Bowden in his 2007 Atlantic Monthly piece “The Ploy.”

Bowden wrote that “the real story is more complicated and interesting." And, his story is backed up by Mark Urban in "Task Force Black" (“multiple sources have confirmed to me the accuracy of Bowden’s article”) and interrogator Matthew Alexander in “How to Break A Terrorist” (“We found Zarqawi in spite of the way the task force did business”).

For details, see the chapter, “That’s One Dead SOB,” in "Never Shall I Fail My Comrades" -- The Dark Legacy of Gen. Stanley McChrystal, posted at the Feral Firefighter blog.”

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2. Guy Montag said... on Jan 30, 2013 at 09:32AM

“It appears McChrystal’s “official story” portrays a false account of Mubbassir’s interrogations. Supposedly Paul developed rapport and trust with him; rewarded him with breakfast, listened to the radio and ate ice cream together!

However, Matthew Alexander wrote how Paul was part of “the old guard, who were at Guantanamo and did previous tours in Afghanistan and Iraq. They believe in fear-and-control methods but now they’re being forced to play by the rules” … They’ve never built rapport with these guys.” He wrote that Paul [Lenny] said, “****ing muj. Just show him who is boss… Control 101 is the first lesson in interrogation.” Somehow, McChrystal would have his readers believe that this is the same guy who hung out with Mussabir eating ice cream and listening to the radio!

In reality, Alexander had to do an end-run around JSOC to get the key intel from Mussabir; he got it in just a few hours, what JSOC’s three “best” interrogators had failed to get in three weeks!”

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