Gen. McChrystal

This general has to go. There’s nothing wrong with having policy differences with your boss, but airing them in public or in the press is a major mistake. It makes no difference if it’s the government, military, or private business. Soldiers have no inspiration to perform when they know there is division and problems at the top. The general should have been asked to resign and, if he refuses, fire him immediately.

JOE2010 Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > This general has to go. There’s nothing wrong with > having policy differences with your boss, but > airing them in public or in the press is a major > mistake. It makes no difference if it’s the > government, military, or private business. > Soldiers have no inspiration to perform when they > know there is division and problems at the top. > > > The general should have been asked to resign and, > if he refuses, fire him immediately. If this were Japan he woulda off’d himself already.

Its just history repeating itself, happened with Douglas McArthur too.

He’s resigning.

This is what I wrote in the general forum on marcus phoenix’s thread. No matter how much I respect the military and McChrystal’s badassness and might dislike any particular administration or Obama/Biden…let’s not forget that the civilian leadership is above the military leadership in this country. Obama/Biden are the elected leaders and their offices are more important than any number of generals’ stars and/or medals.  I believe that McChrystal has failed in his duties since he has fostered an environment for his staff that mocks the chain of command (America’s chain of command, not his(!), based on offices and not people/personalities), the chain that he’s a part and is bigger than him…even when it’s an annoyance and inconvenience

Yeah, not to mention the foreign countries and dignitaries he insulted. Plus the fact that he makes his senior staff look like a bunch of frat boys. If he sees no problem with him and his staff getting trashed at a bar in France while being interviewed by a reporter, who knows the kind of sh*t that he lets happen. I don’t think that displays the kind of nuance that someone handling his level of responsibility should.

He has failed miserably in Afghanistan. The contractors now offer bribes to the Taliban for safe passage. Our tax dollars are ending up in the hands of the Warlords; Opium and Heroin production (which will make its way to the US) are at an all time high.

marcus phoenix Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Opium and Heroin production > (which will make its way to the US) are at an all > time high. source?

I agree with Charles Krauthammer and think that McChrystal should tender his letter of resignation to Obama out of respect for the chain of command, but Obama should rise above the transgression and keep McChrystal in his current position. He’s in the middle of running the war for heaven’s sake. Of course, Obama said he wants to cut and run from Afghanistan next summer regardless, so maybe it’s in the POTUS’ best interest to sabotage the war effort to the best of his ability. We’ll find out in about 15 minutes anyway.

He is out. Good. Petraeus will do a much better job, restor the CoC and not run shop like its some sort of college frat.

^^ I’d have been happy with Obama making McChrystal do 1,000 push ups for even thinking about talking to a Rolling Stone reporter and keeping him in his job, but he sacked him. Oh well. Hopefully Patraeus’ transition will go seamlessly without any major problems.

IMHO the real problem is Afghanistan itself. Its a wild beast that no one can tame. I hope we stop wasting out money/ lives there and use more cost effective targeted drones/ special ops to weed out the terrorists.

marcus phoenix Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > He is out. Good. Petraeus will do a much better > job, restor the CoC and not run shop like its some > sort of college frat. that’s really funny. can you define “much better job” so we can recall it in a year when obama pulls the plug? mcchrystal has done an outstanding job with what he was handed. the administration really doesn’t care how well he does and is only lending him a deaf ear. he called them out, offered his resignation and left. i feel awful for the men and women on the ground and the communities they were working with.

mar350 Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > marcus phoenix Wrote: > -------------------------------------------------- > ----- > > He is out. Good. Petraeus will do a much better > > job, restor the CoC and not run shop like its > some > > sort of college frat. > > > that’s really funny. can you define “much better > job” so we can recall it in a year when obama > pulls the plug? > > mcchrystal has done an outstanding job with what > he was handed. the administration really doesn’t > care how well he does and is only lending him a > deaf ear. he called them out, offered his > resignation and left. > > i feel awful for the men and women on the ground > and the communities they were working with. Its been 9 years and we have acheived little other than wasting money and lives. Its high time we pull the plug. Why don’t you enlist if you feel so strongly for us being there?

i actually wanted to be join rotc and be a marine, but it didn’t happen. in those nine years we have achieved stability and an awareness of the US and its interests in that part of the world. we have levered more pressure on the leaders in those areas and have gained credible standing in the local communities by building schools, digging irrigation ditches and fighting drugs and corruption. having US forces fighting over there may not be pretty, or ideal, but its much better than not doing anything.

I was wondering if Obama would let McChrystal slide by making a public apology, but it’s better to have sacked him. The troops need to respect the chain of command, and that puts the President at the top. That failure of discipline is a direct threat to our effectiveness and to national security. The issue is who can replace McChrystal, and Petraeus is a good call. For some reason I had thought that he was unavailable as an alternative. McChrystal will presumably still act in an advisory capacity. I’m not happy that the Afghan war is taking so long and is so difficult to make progress, but it is a very legitimate operation that we need to be involved in. I’ve always separated the Iraq war from the Afghan war, and some of my friends who hear me going off about the ridiculousness of going to Iraq are then surprised to hear that I feel we need to keep our eye on the ball in Afghanistan. The real problem is that we don’t seem to be very capable at state-building, but that’s exactly what we need to be doing there. Joe Biden is right that the focus of military operations needs to be in the border zone where Al Qaida is still operational.

mar350 Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > i actually wanted to be join rotc and be a marine, > but it didn’t happen. > > in those nine years we have achieved stability and > an awareness of the US and its interests in that > part of the world. we have levered more pressure > on the leaders in those areas and have gained > credible standing in the local communities by > building schools, digging irrigation ditches and > fighting drugs and corruption. > > having US forces fighting over there may not be > pretty, or ideal, but its much better than not > doing anything. The really scary thing about the war in Afghanistan is that someone could actually make a reasonable argument disagreeing with what you have said. It is absolutely debatable whether after 9 years of NATO intervention, the Afghan people are any better off or that the threat to the US and other NATO countries from Afghan/Pakistan based terrorists has been reduced. Quite remarkable when you think of all the money spent (mostly US) and lives lost (mostly Afghan).

McChrystal was someone who was against an early withdrawal and the article made it politically expedient to fire him. From the POV of winning the war, it was a big mistake to take out McChrystal, politically, different story. I think the key thing to follow is what the timeline for withdrawal looks like. If we push for an early withdrawal, then it is quite likely that a deal will be ironed out , and if we push for a later withdrawal, then frankly I have no idea how that would take place.