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General McChrystal Needs To Run For President If He Doesn't Like His Orders
General Stanley McChrystal needs to decide whether or not he wants to run for president.
Once he figures that out, he needs to pack his bags.
There are a number of ways built into military protocol that a general can express his displeasure with the ideas the White House has.
But at the end of the day, after all the advice has been given and all the scenarios have been hashed out, America expects its commander-in-chief to be the lead dog on any direction our armed forces take.
Period.
Generals are a dime a dozen. Ask Fmr General Schwarzkopf, or Fmr General Powell. One of the good things about our military is it is designed to operate at a high casualty rate, not only on the field but in the top brass as well.
All I've been thinking about is Al Haig ever since McChrystal began playing rogue general for the media.
If you were the chairman of a major company, and you saw your chief financial officer on CNBC telling their interviewer that they didn't agree with the direction of some of the corporate policies you had put in place, your chief financial officer would be gone by nightfall.
S. and I went to a backyard ceremony for a neighbor's daughter last Saturday. The groom was a soldier, a young guy in his mid twenties who looked just like a young movie star Ronald Reagan with a crew cut. A tank commander, he was chiseled and lean from spending long hours sweating inside the tank's hot interior in Iraq. The groom stared straight into my eyes and said "I'll do whatever the American people ask me to do" without reservation, a statement I heard him repeat numerous times to other guests as he made his way around the room.
Maybe the general needs to spend more time with his troops, and less with the press.
These soldier's families understand what it is they have signed on to serve, but they don't want their loved ones in harm's way a moment longer than is absolutely necessary.
And they certainly don't want their commander in Afghanistan playing chicken with the commander-in-chief while their child's life hangs in the balance.
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Soldiers lives are hanging in the balance because dimwits like Obama and Biden are attempting to make military strategy when they know nothing about it. McCrystal did nothing wrong, he simply told the truth - that Obama had only talked with him once on a VTC since he assumed command. The fact that the truth embarrassed Obama is not McCrystal's fault. Regarding his comment on the unofficial, unstated, idea allegedly from Biden to rely soley on Predator drones, he was expressing his opinion on it's merit and he had a right to do so. Since Obama took office casualties in Afghanistan have skyrocketed - nearly 25% of all KIA's in the entire 9 year war have been in his first 9 months in office. This is not a coincidence. The previous strategy was to have a small footprint of troops backed by air support. Obama has placed strict limits on the use of air support, leaving troops more vulnerable.
October 6, 2009 11:01 AM | Reply | Permalink
Let's take a look . . .
. . . at what's happened in the past few days... Related to Gen McChrystal's loose-lips and where the chain-of-command brass and civilian oversight stands at the Pentagon.
I'll start with this from today's WaPo...
And where has Gen. McChrystal's boss been hiding?
You know, General Petraeus? Does Petraeus have any control of his chain-of-command? Or, is Petraeus actually a punk and allowing political points to be made off the situation with his troops in harm's way?
Dave the Dull? Ouch!
Now there's some real respect from the General staff for their commander . . .
Oh ... an what about Robert Gates? Remember him, the Defense Secretary? The "civilian" guy in charge at the Pentagon?
(you can find the links to those articles at my blog here)
Sounds to this ol' Navy boy here that Gates is basically saying . .
"Button it up and await orders . . ."
So Bulldog ... SHUT THE FUCK UP!
~OGD~
October 6, 2009 11:36 AM | Reply | Permalink
Yes, no one, civilian or military, can question the great Obama. All Hail Obama the Magnificent ! The fact that civilian politicians think they know military strategy better than their generals has been the cause of most military failures, from the collapse of the 3rd Reich, to Vietnam, it has been proven repeatedly that politicians make poor generals. I find it interesting that you approve of Obama's strategy of silencing all debate and ignoring the generals and instead relying on his vast personal military experience to decide tactics. That Petraeus has been silenced and sidelined is proof Obama is an egotistical fool that thinks he knows all.
October 6, 2009 12:11 PM | Reply | Permalink
"The fact that civilian politicians think they know military strategy better than their generals has been the cause of most military failures, from the collapse of the 3rd Reich, to Vietnam, it has been proven repeatedly that politicians make poor generals."
The fact that you think politicians, and not one General William Westmoreland, lost the Vietnam War (if in fact it even was winnable to begin with), show you have been so thoroughly indoctrinated with rightwing bullshit that nothing you say should be given any respect whatsoever.
October 6, 2009 3:13 PM | Reply | Permalink
It's apparent . . .
What with the incoherent babbling that this jack-off jaw BullDogShit spews 'round these threads, in addition to the total lack of knowledge of U.S. involvement as an aggressor nation, if BullDogShit actually served in the military it had to have been as a ground-pounder and most likely took 3 weeks of boot camp to figure out how to lace his boots ...
Just another shit talking air-head.
~OGD~
October 6, 2009 7:37 PM | Reply | Permalink
Rude.
October 6, 2009 9:47 PM | Reply | Permalink
Awww ... sorry not to please ... Miss Manners . . .
I never was one to remember which side of the plate the spoon is placed.
Ducks aren't known for poltical correctness nor kissing ass.
And since this was your only response in this entire thread I can only imagine that you are now the Cafe manners cop.
Good for you . . .
~OGD~
October 7, 2009 2:42 PM | Reply | Permalink
You realize McChrystal devised the current strategy, right? When he was selected, it was all over that box with the moving pictures in it ... what's that called again ... OH YEAH, the teevee!
That should tell you something about what's wrong right there .... Obama kept the GOP team in charge of the war effort. And what has listening to these republican assholes accomplished? Our boys getting cut to ribbons and a resurgent Taliban. Now their so-called "strategy" is? Double down Mr. President ... I'm sure we can placate the graveyard of nations with a bit more cannon fodder and a LOT more time. Never mind that the mission was NEVER to placate Afghanistan but to eliminate Bin Laden. Remember him? Oh yeah, I forgot - your ilk hasn't cared about him for years.
Almost every mistake in Obama's short presidential career can be traced to a decision to play nice instead of just kicking the moron republicans who have destroyed our nation in the teeth and tell them: "SHUT THE FUCK UP YOU ANTI-AMERICAN ASSHOLES ... IF YOU HAD A CLUE, THE NATION WOULDN'T BE ALL FUCKED UP". Look around you. This is the America that conservatives built - endless wars, mission creep, mega banks and the majority of the nation in foreclosure. Good lookin out.
October 6, 2009 1:06 PM | Reply | Permalink
What a nonsensical rant. Republicans did not cause the foreclosure mess, millions of people getting loans they couldn't pay back, based on the assumption that real estate only goes up and facilitated by FNM and FRE and democratic policies from Carter, Clinton, Dodd, and Frank, caused it.
As far as Osama, he is a man not a god, destroying his organization, killing his troops and confiscating his money is more important than killing him - not that I wouldn't cheer his death.
Regarding the 'GOP team' in charge of the war, idiot, it is the army and it's generals, not the GOP, running it. Only loony leftists like you think the military should be political. Obama put McCrystal in charge, told him what his goals were, then wants to ignore his requests for the resources to do what he has been asked to do.
In short, the legion of mistakes made by Obama in his first nine months are the result of him being an egotistical leftist idiot who takes advice form no one and despises the military and everything this country once stood for.
October 6, 2009 1:53 PM | Reply | Permalink
What an exquisite state of denial you inhabit. So all of America's woes have nothing to do with the so-called conservative movement that has dominated and spent the last decade purging all but ideologues from the military, regulatory agencies and civil service ... but instead are either the fault of Clinton who's been out of office for a decade or Obama who's been in office for only a few months.
Brilliant analysis. Want to see an idiot? Look in the mirror.
For myself I'll stick with fellow raging leftists such as Jessie Ventura and even Ron Paul. We independent minded Americans may have different visions of the solution, but at least we row in the same sea of recognizing the problem. So-called conservatives have destroyed our great nation and have nothing left to offer but bitterness and spite.
October 6, 2009 5:56 PM | Reply | Permalink
I didn't agree with the Iraqi war, but when you send troops into a conflict, what I believe becomes a lot less important than working with the system we have.
Squabbling between the generals and the White House will turn the best advice sour in a hurry, no matter what party or president, whether he is a celebrity or not, is in power.
Being committed to a half assed plan is better than being half assed about a great plan any day of the week when you're in a fight.
October 6, 2009 12:28 PM | Reply | Permalink
I agree, I just don't see Obama committed to any plan.
October 6, 2009 1:55 PM | Reply | Permalink
You see President Obama in dark lights and shadows regardless of the stage.
October 6, 2009 4:07 PM | Reply | Permalink
This is right on the mark . . .
And neither does Secretary Gates:
~OGD~
October 6, 2009 8:09 PM | Reply | Permalink