The Loud Talker

If president Obama removes General Stanley McChrystal from his role as leader of our efforts in Afghanistan, it will be the first time an active duty general has been removed from leading his troops during a war since Macarthur was relieved in Korean War. Given that perspective, you would think that McChrystal did something really bad.

::crickets::

I think those that condemn the general are failing to “read the bill” again. I think our president may be acting stupidly (again). As I type this General Stanley McChrystal is rumored to have submitted his resignation to the president. Say it ain’t so Stan.

• Sen. John Thune, R-SD, said, “Things that were said in the article…were inappropriate. They’re inconsistent with the protocol and the chain of command in the military.”
• Committee Chairman Carl Levin, D-MI, said he is “very troubled by (McChrystal’s) comments.”
• Senate Intelligence Committee Chairwoman Dianne Feinstein, D-FL, said questions about McChrystal’s future are “above my pay grade.”
• Republican John McCain of Arizona, Joe Lieberman, I-CT, and Lindsey Graham, R-SC: “We have the highest respect for General McChrystal and honor his brave service and sacrifice to our nation. General McChrystal’s comments, as reported in Rolling Stone, are inappropriate and inconsistent with the traditional relationship between Commander-in-Chief and the military.”

I’ve read the entire Rolling Stone article that has Washington all in a tizzy. Personally I think Rolling Stone contains a lot of crap intended for today’s MTV reality television audience.  It would be refreshing to read an article that doesn’t have an f-bomb in every paragraph, although I agree with the following excerpt:

“When it comes to Afghanistan, history is not on McChrystal’s side. The only foreign invader to have any success here was Genghis Khan – and he wasn’t hampered by things like human rights, economic development and press scrutiny.”

To save you some time I’ve captured every single quote attributed directly to General McChrystal and listed them below. The most shocking statements that I’m seeing repeated in the press come from aides or other military personnel, not General McCrystal. After you read the list, please let me know which of the quotes below merits removing a sitting general from his leadership role in the middle of a war.

I think McChrystal’s biggest mistake was agreeing to let Rolling Stone shadow him and write a story in the first place. What was he thinking? Was he taking a cue from the rock star president that he voted for and that gave him his job in the first place? Washington Post columnist Jackson Diehl wrote, “McChrystal may be at fault for expressing his frustrations to Rolling Stone. He is not at fault for the lack of coherence in the Afghan campaign or the continued feuding over strategy. That is Obama’s responsibility.”

I am against removing General McChrystal and I hope that he does not resign. One of the many articles I’ve read about this suggested that it would be a win-win for Obama to reject the generals resignation letter. I can easily see that happening. After all, Obama is a politician, not a leader. As Ed Morrissey sums up nicely: “…until [Obama] starts acting like an actual Commander in Chief with his own team, McChrystal isn’t the real problem.”

Here is the list of McChrystal quotes. Judge for yourself and let me know if any of the statements below are worthy of taking down a general.McChrystal Quotes from the Rolling Stone Article:

• ‘How’d I get screwed into going to this dinner?”
• “Hey, Charlie,” he asks, “does this come with the position?”
• “What’s the update on the Kandahar bombing?”
• “I’d rather have my ass kicked by a roomful of people than go out to this dinner. Unfortunately no one in this room could do it.”
• “shortsighted,” “Chaos-istan.”
• “I never know what’s going to pop out until I’m up there, that’s the problem.” “Are you asking about Vice President Biden?” “Who’s that?”
• After arriving in Afghanistan last June, the general conducted his own policy review, ordered up by Defense Secretary Robert Gates. The now-infamous report was leaked to the press, and its conclusion was dire: If we didn’t send another 40,000 troops – swelling the number of U.S. forces in Afghanistan by nearly half – we were in danger of “mission failure.”
• Obama launched a three-month review to re-evaluate the strategy in Afghanistan. “I found that time painful,” McChrystal tells me in one of several lengthy interviews. “I was selling an unsellable position.”
• The biggest military operation of the year – a ferocious offensive that began in February to retake the southern town of Marja – continues to drag on, prompting McChrystal himself to refer to it as a “bleeding ulcer.”
• “All these men,” he tells me. “I’d die for them. And they’d die for me.”
• “Oh, not another e-mail from Holbrooke,” he groans. “I don’t even want to open it.”
• McChrystal and his team were blindsided by the cable. “I like Karl, I’ve known him for years, but they’d never said anything like that to us before,” says McChrystal, who adds that he felt “betrayed” by the leak. “Here’s one that covers his flank for the history books. Now if we fail, they can say, ‘I told you so.’ ”
• Stanley McChrystal entered an Army that was all but broken in the wake of Vietnam. “We really felt we were a peacetime generation,” he recalls. “There was the Gulf War, but even that didn’t feel like that big of a deal.”
• 2004 “If the circumstances of Corporal Tillman’s death become public,” he wrote, it could cause “public embarrassment” for the president.
• “I’m saddened by the accusation that I don’t care about soldiers, as it is something I suspect any soldier takes both personally and professionally – at least I do. But I know perceptions depend upon your perspective at the time, and I respect that every soldier’s view is his own.”
• The general has a 45-minute discussion with some two dozen soldiers. The atmosphere is tense. “I ask you what’s going on in your world, and I think it’s important for you all to understand the big picture as well,” McChrystal begins. “How’s the company doing? You guys feeling sorry for yourselves? Anybody? Anybody feel like you’re losing?”
• “Strength is leading when you just don’t want to lead,” he tells the men. “You’re leading by example. That’s what we do. Particularly when it’s really, really hard, and it hurts inside.”
• “We are knee-deep in the decisive year.” “This is the philosophical part that works with think tanks,” McChrystal tries to joke. “But it doesn’t get the same reception from infantry companies.”
• “Winning hearts and minds in COIN is a coldblooded thing. The Russians killed 1 million Afghans, and that didn’t work.”
• “I agree with you. In this area, we’ve not made progress, probably. You have to show strength here, you have to use fire. What I’m telling you is, fire costs you. What do you want to do? You want to wipe the population out here and resettle it?”
• “That’s the way this game is,” “It’s complex. I can’t just decide: It’s shirts and skins, and we’ll kill all the shirts.”
• “There’s no way I can make that easier,” he tells them. “No way I can pretend it won’t hurt. No way I can tell you not to feel that… I will tell you, you’re doing a great job. Don’t let the frustration get to you.”
• “Even Afghans are confused by Afghanistan.”

Maybe it’s just me, but I see nothing wrong with the quotes above.