On Thursday, November 19, 2009, General McCaffrey testified to the US House of Representatives Foreign Affairs Committee’s hearing on “Restrictions on travel by American Citizens to Cuba: "Time to Lift the Ban” chaired by Rep. Howard Berman. Please click on the video below to view this hearing.
On Friday, November 6, 2009 General McCaffrey appeared on CNN’s Anderson Cooper 360° to discuss the shootings at Fort Hood, TX. Please click on the video to below to watch his interview and the link below to read the transcript. CNN Anderson Cooper 360° Transcript – 6 November 2009
On Friday, November 6, 2009 General McCaffrey appeared on CNN’s Larry King Live with General Wesley Clark, USA (Ret.) to discuss the shootings at Fort Hood, TX. Please click on the video to below to watch his interview and the link below to read the transcript.
General McCaffrey appeared on NBC TODAY Show with Meredith Vieira and Jim Miklaszewski on Friday, November 6, 2009 to discuss the shootings at Fort Hood, TX. Please click on the video below to watch his interview.
General McCaffrey appeared on NBC Nightly News with Jim Miklaszewski on Thursday, November 5, 2009 to discuss the shootings at Fort Hood, TX. Please click on the video below to watch his interview.
On Monday, November 2, 2009 General McCaffrey appeared on CNN’s Larry King Live with General Wesley Clark, USA (Ret.) and Mr. Pete Hegseth, Vets for Freedom, to discuss if Obama should send more troops to Afghanistan. Please click on the link below to read the transcript. CNN Larry King Live Transcript – 2 November 2009
On Sunday, October 11, 2009 General McCaffrey appeared on NBC’s Meet the Press with host David Gregory, Senator Carl Levin (D-MI), Senator Lindsey Graham (R-SC), and General Richard Myers, USAF (Ret.) to discuss new strategies in Afghanistan. Please click on the video below to watch this episode.
General McCaffrey recently filmed a public service announcement in support of the construction and fund raising of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund’s Education Center at Wall. Please click on the video below to watch his public service announcement.
On May 15, 2009, General McCaffrey delivered the keynote speech at the National Drug Court Commencement Day on the 20th Anniversary of the Miami-Dade Drug Court in Florida. Please click on the video below to watch General McCaffrey's speech and the entire commencement ceremony.
General McCaffrey appeared on TODAY on NBC on Tuesday, May 12 2009 to discuss the change of U.S. command in Afghanistan and the administration's efforts to revamp military efforts in the country, with Matt Lauer. Please click on the video below to watch his interview.
On Wednesday, May 20 2009 General McCaffrey interviewed with John Favole on NBC News West Palm Beach to discuss the wars in Iraq & Afghanistan, the war on drugs, and Iran’s nuclear program. Please click on the video below to watch his interview.
On Friday, February 20, 2009, General McCaffrey participated in a panel to discuss “US-Mexico Relations” at the Council on Foreign Relations in New York, NY. Click here to watch his presentation:
Commentary: The Times drags an honorable soldier through the mud
Joseph L. Galloway | McClatchy Newspapers
last updated: December 04, 2008 07:43:51 AM
This week, I'm writing in defense of an old friend, retired Army Gen. Barry R. McCaffrey, who was dragged through the mud this week in a 5,000-word article by David Barstow in The New York Times.
Several months ago, Barstow wrote a story on a Pentagon program undertaken on orders of then-defense secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld that offered hand-feeding and special treatment to a motley crew of television’s military talking heads.
That was a largely successful effort to get the analysts, especially retired military brass, "on the team" cheerleading for the Bush administration’s war in Iraq, and to keep them there with a mix of carrots and sticks.
The article noted that after the war got underway, McCaffrey, almost alone among the 50-plus analysts, was an unrelenting critic of Rumsfeld’s misconduct of it and his gross interference in matters of strategy and tactics that are better left to professionals.
I found it curious, then, that Barstow chose McCaffrey, who didn't feed at Rumsfeld’s trough, as the target of his allegations of conflict of interest and self-dealing, especially when he offered no proof that the general ever tailored his analysis of the war and other military matters to smooth the way into Rumsfeld's Pentagon for the defense companies for whom he was consulting.
Whether NBC News, for whom he worked as a military analyst, should have disclosed McCaffrey's business dealings is a different issue, but as a sometime target of Rumsfeld's ire, I can assure you that criticizing him was not the way to win friends, much less influence contracts, in a Pentagon that Rumsfeld ran like a banana republic.
In the interest of full disclosure, I've been a good friend of Barry McCaffrey ever since I rode to war beside him with the 24th Infantry Division (Mechanized) in the Persian Gulf war. I also was a good friend of his father, retired Lt. Gen. William McCaffrey, and I consider myself a good friend of his son, Col. Sean McCaffrey, who's on active duty today.
In my dealings with Gen. McCaffrey, I've always found him to be a very intelligent, honorable soldier of impeccable character. I’ve never seen him shy away from telling the truth, even when it might be controversial or incur the wrath of a powerful dung beetle such as Rumsfeld.
We also should remember that McCaffrey is one of the most highly decorated combat soldiers ever to wear general’s stars, with two awards of the Distinguished Service Cross and three Purple Hearts for wounds he suffered in the Vietnam War.
On his second combat tour in Vietnam, McCaffrey was the commander of B Company, 2nd Battalion, 7th U.S. Cavalry. During an assault on North Vietnamese bunkers in the jungle, he was so badly wounded by machine gun fire that the men who put him aboard a medical evacuation helicopter were certain that he'd soon be dead.
That wound and more than 20 surgeries left his left arm non-functional, and still he pleaded with the doctors at Walter Reed Army Hospital to be allowed to continue to serve in our Army. That was a great call by the doctors, and then-Capt. McCaffrey went on to four-star rank.
If he had a flaw as a commander, and everyone does, it would be a temper that could approach volcanic when he stumbled upon errors or inefficiency that might threaten the lives of his soldiers.
As we hopscotched around southern Iraq during the chaotic 100-hour war in 1991, I witnessed one such eruption when, as he maneuvered three heavily armored brigades, his communications links to both the front and the rear failed.
The roars emanating from the little tent hung on the side of his Blackhawk command helicopter bulged the walls and inspired me to walk 30 yards or so to a pile of rocks and take a seat out of the line of fire. The general, having thoroughly chewed every butt in the tent, stepped outside, spotted me on my rocky perch and commenced yelling at me.
I raised both hands in the time-out sign and shouted back: "You can’t yell at me. I don’t work for you!"
He shook his head and turned back inside his tent.
McCaffrey retired from the Army to serve as President Clinton’s national drug czar, and after that he became an adjunct professor at his and his father’s and his son’s alma mater, the U.S. Military Academy at West Point. He continues to teach there today.
That’s not the usual revolving door route to riches taken by the many retiring admirals and generals who sit on the boards of big defense companies or take executive positions with those companies.
Instead, he set up a small consulting firm, B.R. McCaffrey and Associates, and hired himself out to advise small defense contractors on how to negotiate the shoals and reefs of Washington, D.C.
In the last six years as a military analyst for NBC News, I've never once known him to trim his sails or duck a troublesome issue, no matter what company or companies he might be consulting for.
That's not the Barry McCaffrey I know and respect — the one who's a true American hero with service to the nation bred into him and with the old West Point motto of Duty, Honor, Country still ringing in his ears.
I like the Barry McCaffrey I've come to know well. I don't recognize the one portrayed by Mr. Barstow and The New York Times.
Wednesday, December 03, 2008
Last Update: 07:25 AM EST
THE TIMES SMEARS AN AMERICAN HERO
Last updated: 1:02 am December 3, 2008 Posted: 12:53 am December 3, 2008
WHEN New York Times "investigative reporter" David Barstow was in kindergarten, a young Army officer lay in a hospital bed recovering from one of the three grievous wounds he would suffer in the course of four combat tours in our nation's service.
Barstow never felt compelled to serve his country in any capacity. Instead, he dedicated his life to that godlike calling, journalism, in which those who never actually do anything are empowered to attack those who get things done.
That wounded officer, Barry McCaffrey, would rise from his hospital bed and, despite losing most of the use of one arm, go on to wear four stars. Then, at a president's request, he took off his uniform to become our nation's drug czar.
On leaving office, McCaffrey didn't grab the big bucks, as too many generals and Cabinet officials do. He spent most of his time teaching at West Point - a losing financial proposition. He also wrote and spoke, with experience and insight, on national-security affairs. Eventually, he advised a few private-sector clients on how our government works.
Then came the Iraq invasion. Although many senior officers, in and out of uniform, were appalled at key decisions by Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, most only muttered among themselves and kept their heads down. Among the few retired flag officers who spoke out against the disastrous occupation policy (or lack thereof), McCaffrey's was the defining voice.
It cost him. He became persona non grata in the Rumsfeld Pentagon. But McCaffrey placed his country and our troops above his personal advantage.
In the end, Rumsfeld fell, while McCaffrey remained standing, vindicated. The hero remained a hero.
Yet a 5,000-word, front-page "investigative report" in Sunday's New York Times tried to turn this story upside down. Consisting only of supposition, innuendo and artful slander, it was written by Barstow.
In the course of this bloated hit-job, the reporter never makes a single case for any tangible impropriety, illegality or break-down in table manners. His "smoking gun" is a contract that a client of the general's didn't get. He accuses McCaffrey of war profiteering, but never explains how taking on the SecDef would have been good for business.
At his lowest point, the "reporter" suggests that McCaffrey favored extending the war in Iraq for personal profit. That's not just any old lie, but a horrible calumny against a man who knows the cost of war first-hand, who - as I can attest personally - has always been loyal to subordinates who put the mission first, and who still looks forward to reunions with his Infantry company's survivors from Vietnam.
With no evidence, Barstow just makes up the general's motives to fit his pre-determined story line. That isn't journalism. It's fiction writing.
I've known McCaffrey for almost 20 years. If any retired general wasn't in it for the money, it was him. I'd trust Barry McCaffrey with the fate of our country and with my own life. I have known no greater soldier in my lifetime.
And let me be clear: I value McCaffrey as a personal friend, but I've never been in his post-retirement employ, nor have I ever been on any defense-industry payroll. And we do have some differences: Among them, I don't think retired generals or admirals should be allowed to work in the defense industry in any capacity, since their inherent influence is simply too great.
But the law says they can, and McCaffrey's behavior has been ethical on all counts. As far as his media appearances go, I never felt that he slanted a single comment - he just has too much integrity.
He's a good man. Maybe that's what really riles the Times.
When I criticized Rumsfeld's destructive policies during Bush's first term, I faced the ire of all the "on-board" military retirees, the suck-ups and the scoundrels. The only ranking fellow retiree on whom I could count for public support was McCaffrey.
Other retired generals and admirals not only "drank the Kool Aid" Rumsfeld's deputies poured, but tried to force it down the throats of others. McCaffrey fought the good fight, often alone.
I can only conclude that the Times simply can't stomach military heroes. To its editors and Barstow, the only authentic heroes left are journalists (and Gitmo inmates). So they went after a great man with McCarthy-era tactics, ignoring the facts and twisting testimony to suit their perverse ambitions.
The greatest contradiction in terms isn't "military intelligence," but "journalistic integrity."
Ralph Peters is a retired Army officer who conducted special missions related to the Balkans, the Andean Ridge, Southeast Asia and the Mexican border for Gen. McCaffrey.
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Statement BR McCaffrey Associates, LLC in response to New York Times article by reporter David Barstow 30 Nov 08.
Contact: Robert Weiner Associates ATTN Bob Weiner Email weinerpublic@comcast.net weinerpublic@comcast.net Tel. 301-283-0821 or Cell 202-329-1700
Barstow article in the New York Times on SUNDAY 30 Nov 2008 not supported by the facts of GENERAL MCCAFFREY'S FOCUS ON IMPROVING NATIONAL SECURITY.
Here are the facts:
1st: General McCaffrey has been absolutely committed to objective, non-partisan public commentary on national security issues since "911". He is proud of his association with NBC. His on-air commentary is based solely on his personal convictions and experience.
2nd: Check Google for the association of Rumsfeld and McCaffrey. You will find 14,000 hits nearly all hostile to the arrogance and mismanagement of the Rumsfeld War on Terror.
· Hardly the stuff of someone "shilling" for the Pentagon. Hardly the actions of someone trying to ingratiate himself with DOD contracting authorities on behalf of his business interests. · General McCaffrey is not a lobbyist. His focus in business is on understanding and explaining the national policy environment. When he sees a concept that would support military interests--- he does of course recommend it to national defense leaders.
3rd: General McCaffrey was not part of the Pentagon spin machine. He was persona non grata with the Pentagon public affairs effort: · His April 2003 OP-ED in the Wall Street Journal argued that "Defense Secretary Rumsfeld has put us in a .....risky position." · McCaffrey's critical OP-ED's continued. On 29 July 2003 in the Wall Street Journal he noted "We risk breaking the back of the US Army and Marine Corps in the coming 24 months." · On 29 November 2003 his OP-ED in WSJ was titled "Rumsfeld in Denial." · On 13 December in the Washington Post his OP-ED noted that "We are in a very difficult position created by a micro-managed Rumsfeld war team that has been incompetent, arrogant, and in denial." · His 28 June 2006 West Point Academic Report: Ø During the first 18 months of the war on terror there were widespread, systematic abuses of detainees under US control in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Guantanamo. Some were murdered and hundreds tortured or abused. This caused enormous damage to U.S. military operations and created significant and enduring damage to US international standing. We have been routinely condemned by the international community.
4th: The New York Times itself noted his criticism of the war in at least ten major stories over the years. Why now the change in tone from Barstow? · Is it related to General McCaffrey's 18 December 2007 West Point academic report from Iraq that praised a brilliant new commander General David Petraeus and the enormous experience and skill of US Ambassador Ryan Crocker? Ø The leadership of Secretary Bob Gates in DOD has produced a dramatic transformation of our national security effort which under the Rumsfeld leadership was characterized by: a failing under-resourced counter-insurgency strategy; illegal DOD orders on the abuse of human rights; disrespect for the media and the Congress and the other departments of government; massive self-denial on wartime intelligence; and an internal civilian-imposed integrity problem in the Armed Forces---that punished candor, de-centralized operations, and commanders initiative. · Is it related to his objective and hard hitting West Point academic report of 4 November 2008 which suggested that we have now started the successful withdrawal from Iraq? · Is it related to his public expression of admiration for the dramatic change in leadership in national security from the moment Secretary of Defense Bob Gates replaced Rumsfeld? · Is that why the first New York Times article reacting to McCaffrey's changed public stance in 2008 on the Iraq War insultingly noted his "gushing" praise for General Petraeus?
5th: Visit www.mccaffreyassociates.com and read General McCaffrey's West Point academic After Action Reports from his trips to Iraq, Afghanistan, Saudi Arabia, Colombia, Cuba and other hot spots over the years. This is straight talk from a soldier and national security scholar.
6th: General McCaffrey is an expert on national security. He is not a reporter. He is an American war hero from Vietnam (where he was wounded in combat three times) ---and the first war with Iraq during Desert Storm. Both his son and daughter served as Army officers.
He routinely is invited to testify to Congress on national security issues. He interacts with the intelligence community, foreign governments, academia, the defense industry, and all elements of the US Armed Forces. He is widely respected as a public commentator of great integrity and balanced views.
Mr. Barstow has tried to create a false picture. The real General McCaffrey is explained by his 37 years of public service to include four combat tours---- which he continues now as a businessman, academic lecturer and writer, and media national security expert.
Media
On Friday, February 13 2009, CSPAN covered a lecture by General McCaffrey on “A Strategic and Operational Assessment of Drugs and Crime in Mexico” at The Heritage Foundation in Washington, DC. Click here to watch his presentation -
On Friday, 26 September 2008, CSPAN covered a presentation by General McCaffrey on the current situation in Afghanistan at the Atlantic Council in Washington, DC. Click here to watch his presentation -
On Tuesday April 29, 2008, Brian Williams, NBC Nightly News Anchor, posted a blog on the “Daily Nightly” about the recent New York Times front-page article on the military analysts employed by the television networks. Click here to see what Brian Williams had to say about General McCaffrey -
The Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund held a Capitol Hill press conference to unveil the displays for the Memorial Center and debut the HBO-produced short film about the center. To see the HBO Short Film, please click here -
CSPAN has broadcasted various panels that General McCaffrey has participated in discussing the war in Iraq. - Testifying at the Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing on April 2, 2008 and at the House Armed Services Committee hearing on January 16, 2008 regarding Iraq's post-surge prospects.
On Sunday March 23, 2008, Tom Ricks, military correspondent for the Washington Post, posted a briefing by General McCaffrey predicting what lies around the bend in international relations. Click here to see General McCaffrey's predictions for the future -
General McCaffrey with Golden Globe Award Winning Actress Melanie Griffith at a press conference at the 2008 National Association of Drug Court Professionals Annual National Conference chaired by Mr. West Huddleston, CEO
