“60 Minutes” Gives Gen. McChrystal a Free Pass on Proposed US Troop Increases in Afghanistan

On Sunday, the CBS news show “60 Minutes” featured an interview with President Obama’s top military general speaking on Afghanistan. Despite the popular notion that “60 Minutes” is a hard hitting and investigative program, reporter David Martin did not challenge McChrystal on the eve of the 8^th anniversary of the US occupation of Afghanistan.

Online journal editor Bruce Jackson provides some excellent analysis of the “60 Minutes” episode in a piece that was posted on CounterPunch. Jackson states early on in the piece,

“The interview was more than just another “60 Minutes” puff piece. Four-star battlefront generals don’t put on dog-and-pony shows for reporters without a very good reason for doing so, and he put on a very fancy show for Martin, with stops at his room, his office, his briefing room, trips in his helicopter and SUV, and much more. It’s difficult to imagine that McChrystal’s reason was anything other than putting pressure on the Obama administration to give him the series of very large troop increases he thinks he needs to win his war.”

With growing public opposition to the US war in Afghanistan and McChrystal asking for an additional 40,000 US troops, it is no time for the news media to fail the public on asking hard questions to people who will make decisions that will affect us all.

We encourage you to watch the “60 Minutes” interview and judge for yourself.