As most of you know already by now, ISAF commander Gen. Stanley McChrystal has been in the hot seat for the past 24-hours for comments that he and his aides made to a Rolling Stone journalist concerning several White House officials. It’s an unfortunate betrayal of trust and confidence from a man whom the President has not only chosen to improve the situation in Afghanistan, but one who has been given the enablers to shape the fight there with little push-back from higher echelons. In a way, McChrystal was to be Obama’s Petreaus. But as McChrystal is now on his way back stateside to face President Obama, needless to say, things didn’t work out that way.
As a semi-anonymous blogger, I certainly empathize with Gen. McChrystal. I’ve even gotten my chain-of-command spun up because of an interview I gave concerning my thoughts on the film The Hurt Locker without notifying our public affairs office as a courtesy. I didn’t disparage the Army or its leaders, so this is easily a whole different animal, but I can still empathize. However, I’m utterly in disbelief that someone as high profile as a four-star general with decades of experience could make such a huge mistake in a public forum like that. To put it simply, You.do.not.criticize.your.superiors.in.public. That respect for higher command and authority is what makes the branches of the military so effective at what they do, and today’s revelations disrupted that.
President Obama is in a difficult position here as well. The current mission in Afghanistan is as much McChrystal’s as it is his. McChrystal incessantly badgered the Obama Administration with requests for more troops, even making his views on the matter known to the press. And ultimately, he won. The American fighting force in Afghanistan is almost triple what it was before Obama became president. Since then, McChrystal’s tactical directives and policies have made our operation in Afghanistan one of the more overtly considerate endeavors in our history. I’m sure these facts are weighing on many at the White House and the Pentagon, especially as talk of resignation and firings have mounted in recent hours. Whether McChrystal stays or goes, it will be hard for his reputation to rebound from this, and that’s sad. A model officer with 34-years of service shouldn’t have to go out like this.
Disappointing.
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