When General Douglas MacArthur, commanding United Nations forces in Korea, was “insubordinate” with President Harry Truman, Truman fired him. In that instance, MacArthur clearly crossed the line. Does General Stanley McChrystal’s statements in an interview to Rolling Stone Magazine rise to that level. Should President Barack Obama fire him? Should McChrystal resign? Or should he continue to command forces in Afghanistan?
Filed under: Military, Douglas MacArthur, General McChrystal, Korea, Presideent Barack Obama, Rolling Stone Magazine, United Nations forces
The last thing we need right now is a change in commanders in Afghanistan, but General McChrystal should not have said the things that he said to Rolling Stone Magazine. He should do honorable thing and offer his resignation when he meets witht he President, as I’m sure he will. The President should do the right thing, chew his ass and send him back to the battlefield.
General McChrystal has put Obama in a “no win” position. Obama should have sent a second in command with an order to the General in the field to “cease” his interviews. Discussion of the matter to come latter.
Obama said General McChrystal was the man for the job, so let the General win the war and get out of the way.
As a military veaertn I have a deep respect and understanding of the importance of chain of command and civilian leadership of our military. History has proven, e.g., Truman’s sacking of MacArthur, that chain of command and civilian leadership is sacrosanct and violations should be dealt with swiftly and decisively. To have the top general in a war zone undermine the civilian leadership of the war effort warrants an immediate dismissal of that general, as was properly done in this case. That said general was careless and arrogant about what statements he and his staff shared with a reporter evidences more than insubordination, but the kind of character and discipline (or lack thereof) that has no place anywhere in the chain of command, let alone at the top. Thus, I find the reporting incisive, warranted, necessary, and nothing close to just looking to put another scalp on the wall.
Gen. McChrystal is the eyes on the ground. He knows where everything is laid out, the strategic plans, operations, and tactics and most importantly the knowledge of who is going to implement strategy and tactics. For a president to change horses in midstream at this point is suicide in more ways than one. Obama should put him back giving him no holds barred until such time as the major theater battles have turn into a successful operation. He has the experience and knowledge to execute this war. I say do not fire or accept his resignation.
Anytime an officer with the amount of leadership training that General McChrystal has been through violates the chain of command, and military courtesy,especially in a national publication,it must be checked out. I’m not a supporter of Obama,but he is the commander in chief. If General McChrystal doesn’t have any underlying problems, personal or otherwise,and just made a slip in judgement, he should be reprimanded harshly and kept in charge. We need his knowledge and expertise in the field right now for the welfare and safety of our troops. This incident does not need to become political. Its not the first time a human error has taken place in our government.
It’s a done deal. McChrystal is out and Petraeus is in. General Petraeus is America’s preeminent General, but his appointment doesn’t solve the underlying problems. My guess is that after a “decent interval” more heads will roll. Now the question is will the President relieve Ambassador Eikenberry and special envoy Holbrooke?
Obama won the battle against his own man, it is now on his shoulders, no matter what, that will lead to stronger possibilities of losing the war. Seems that Obama is willing to fight battles against his own people (suing AZ) in which he knows he will lose the war (Nov will prove fatal to his OHC becoming unfunded). Everything he touches, fails (Carter reruns to follow, i.e., its lonely at the top with no cabinet). We all suffer under poor leadership. And the left can boast with self-fulfilling prophesy, “See, we never shoulda went to war knowing we would lose”. Petraeus will do his best to play catch up, no doubt about his superb abilities, but he’s no Superman. God have mercy on our soldiers.
Team America is out. Team Petraeus is in. Did anyone notice this is a step down for David Petraeus?
Another thought is maybe the elite warrior in McChrystal was so frustrated he could see no end game in Afghanistan for the short term and he did this Rolling Stone interview to promote himself for life after life in green. It seems any network would pick him up after he has written his book.
People are probablly making a lot more out of General McChrystal’s outster than necessary. High ranking officers, especially those that are in the national spotlight have to be extremely careful criticising their superiors. Like it or not,fair or not,they are sometimes handcuffed when it comes to the use of their first admendment rights. General McChrystal simply made a bad choice and I’m sure he knows that. I can’t fathom what would make such an intellegent and expirienced leader let his guard down and voice his personal opinion about our civilian leadership to a journalist that writes for a magazine that promotes drug abuse and wierd sex.