Tuesday, June 18, 2013

Reporter Who Brought Down General Stanley McChrystal Is Dead at 33

Michael Hastings, the  journalist whose reporting brought down the career of General Stanley McChrystal, has died in a car accident in Los Angeles, Rolling Stone reports. He was 33.

Hastings'  2010 profile of McChrystal in the pages of Rolling Stone, "The Runaway General," captured the then-supreme commander of the U.S.-led war effort in Afghanistan openly mocking his civilian commanders in the White House. The maelstrom sparked by its publication concluded with President Obama recalling McChrystal to Washington and the general resigning his post.

UPDATE

Photo from the scene:





















UPDATE 2

The Los Angeles Police Department said the crash occurred about 4:25 a.m. in the 600 block of North Highland Avenue.

The vehicle crossed a median, struck a tree and burst into flames in the Hancock Park area, LAPD Officer Christopher No said. The driver was prounounced dead at the scene.

“I was just coming northbound on Highland and I seen a car, like, going really fast and all of a sudden I seen it jackknife,”  Luis Cortez, who witnessed the wreck, told KTLA News. “I just seen parts fly everywhere and I slammed on my brakes and stopped and tried to call 911."

UPDATE 3

LaTi reports:
The collision was so violent that the car's engine was strewn onto a yard about 100 feet from the crash site..

8 comments:

  1. Hastings was married to Elise Jordan, a former Condoleeza Rice speechwriter. I have seen both Hastings and Jordan (separately) quite vehemently defend Ron Paul in their appearances on cable news shows during the 2012 primary, leading me to believe they were supporters. Specifically, they defended Ron Paul's foreign policy of non-intervention.

    Hastings clearly opposed the war in Afghanistan and was genuinely upset about the senseless loss of life on both sides of the conflict. He had seen it up close. He was a true journalist -- one of a handful that includes Glenn Greenwald and Jeremy Scahill.

    Maybe Michael Hastings' death was an accident. It's possible. But it should be kept in mind that a reporter like Hastings, with strong principles and the ability to uncover a story that the ruling class would rather not be told, is bound to make some very powerful enemies. I wonder what he was working on before he died.

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  2. Unless he was drunk or high out of his mind, this stinks to high heaven.

    How often do cars careen across the median at full speed by an unimpaired 33 year old driver in perfect weather?

    I'd wager the answer is not very often.

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  3. Thats a one way street. 45 mph speed limit

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    1. He was heading north bound on Highland Avenue a two way street with a palm lined meridian. This entire incident reeks. He had contacted a Wikileaks attorney just hours before his demise concerning his belief he was under FBI surveillance. He was probing the CIA @ the time of his death. Witnesses say his Mercedes jack knifed into tree, ejecting his drive train 60 yards in the opposite direction and immediately burned w/the intensity of 1000 suns. A water main on the other side of Highland shattered as is known to happen from a shock wave. The LAPD claims this area is known for early am DUIs?I can not find any data to support this. I saw no evidence to support this in my 5 yrs. living on Olympic/Highland. The beer bottle reported on scene appears to be the ONLY thing to have survived a fiery violent explosion much like the "fire proof " passports of 9/11. "Truth is treason in the empire of lies" - Ron Paul

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  4. After the revelations of the last few months, no conspiracy theory is too outlandish to dismiss.

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  5. I've been on that street many times. It's straight and wide and divided. A single car accident like this? Sure, it's possible. But in my opinion it stretches credulity. I'd love to see any video from traffic cameras (which probably exists).

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  6. Looks like Danny Jawenko's single ecar accident. Not quite as suspicious as the DC madam suicide or Gary Webb shooting himself twice in the head

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  7. This guy pissed off some top military brass.

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vkWiZEiBqMA

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