Did General McChrystal make this move on purpose? Pre-planned?

[JakeStarkey]

A troll fail, Lucky Dan.

We lost the war in Vietnam because the South Vietnamese government was so corrupt then, like that of the Afghans today, that the common people of SV did not care who won. If one's government can't protect one's family from the bad guys, then the time has come to make a deal with the bad guys.

The radicals of the left and the reactionaries of the right both play bias, when the point is one of practicability not ideology.

 

[LuckyDan]

A troll fail, Lucky Dan.

We lost the war in Vietnam because the South Vietnamese government was so corrupt then, like that of the Afghans today, that the common people of SV did not care who won. If one's government can protect one's family from the bad guys, then the time has come to make a deal with the bad guys.

The radicals of the left and the reactionaries of the right both play bias, when the point is one of practicability not ideology.

I was referring to the time limit notice you mentioned and your statement linking it to Vietnam.

The theat of terrorism will not vanish in a year, and it will take far more than a year to win trust in Afghanistan.

The Vietnam analogy is stuck in 1985.

 

[Zona]

McChrystal is a West Point grad who went on to Special Forces and black ops. Guys who get that far in specops are brilliant men. They are experts in counter-insurgency, counter-terror, counter-intell, and of course, psych-ops. In my humble opinion, McChrystal set the smallest of traps for Mr. Obama. And my oh my did the President step squarely on this brilliant trap. McChrystal may in fact have cost himself his job, but look at the man's past- do you think it bothers him? A man who did black ops in the Mid-East for this country?

He couldn't come out press-conference style and rip Obama. That would be amateur hour, sort of Obama-like. He couldn't stay silent, because as I said, Obama is trying to make a "war" out of the BP spill, and that is overshadowing his disasterous foreign policy.

No, the brilliant, genius special operations veteran went another route. He used the liberal rag Rolling Stones as his messenger. He made a brief, subtle, but definite critique against the Obama administration. And just as planned, Obama bit. And let himself get pulled into yet another embarrassing mess.

Men who spend 6 months planning a 3 day mission for special operations units DO NOT make mistakes. Anytime, anywhere. This piece from McChrystal to Rolling Stones was NOT a mistake, and it was a brilliant move. Obama is in so far over his head.

Either that or he simply has a big mouth. He has proven three times before, he talks too damn much.


OOOORRRRRR...he wants to write a book and work as a "correspondant" for Fox.

 

[JakeStarkey]

A troll fail, Lucky Dan.

We lost the war in Vietnam because the South Vietnamese government was so corrupt then, like that of the Afghans today, that the common people of SV did not care who won. If one's government can protect one's family from the bad guys, then the time has come to make a deal with the bad guys.

The radicals of the left and the reactionaries of the right both play bias, when the point is one of practicability not ideology.

I was referring to the time limit notice you mentioned and your statement linking it to Vietnam.

The theat of terrorism will not vanish in a year, and it will take far more than a year to win trust in Afghanistan.

The Vietnam analogy is stuck in 1985.

Only your understanding is stuck in 1985, sir. And we have had nine years to win trust in Afghanistan, and we have failed miserably because the civilian government does give not the slightest care about the population.

The analogy is perfect: we were unable to change the corrupt regimes of Vietnam in nineteen years. BHO is absolutely correct to demand the Afghan government straighten up or else. It can't do it? We walk.

 

[LuckyDan]

A troll fail, Lucky Dan.

We lost the war in Vietnam because the South Vietnamese government was so corrupt then, like that of the Afghans today, that the common people of SV did not care who won. If one's government can protect one's family from the bad guys, then the time has come to make a deal with the bad guys.

The radicals of the left and the reactionaries of the right both play bias, when the point is one of practicability not ideology.

I was referring to the time limit notice you mentioned and your statement linking it to Vietnam.

The theat of terrorism will not vanish in a year, and it will take far more than a year to win trust in Afghanistan.

The Vietnam analogy is stuck in 1985.

Only your understanding is stuck in 1985, sir. And we have had nine years to win trust in Afghanistan, and we have failed miserably because the civilian government does give the slightest care about

The analogy is perfect: we were unable to change the corrupt regimes of Vietnam in nineteen years. BHO is absolutely correct to demand the Afghan government straighten up or else. It can't do it? We walk.

And wait.

Till they regroup and attack again.

If we don't fight them in Iraq or Afghanistan, where will we fight them?

 

[JakeStarkey]

This was decided by the failures of the last administration in Iraq and Afghanistan. They had a window, and they shut it tight, nailed it down, then painted the windows black.

We will have to leave Iraq next year, we have no choice. Afghanistan: turn Kabul into a megafortress and give up the rest of the country. American opinion will not allow any thing else.

The neo-cons crapped all over a golden opportunity, and now we bleed for it and have to prepare different strategies.

 

[Middleman]

I don't think Obama came off badly in this one. Most people are backing him up. McCain supported his decision today.

I agree with Lucky Dan. McCrystal let his guard down. And he was already clashing with folks on Obama's team, which is why he let his guard down. McCrystal was starting to get frustrated with dealing with some of Obama's people and he couldn't resist letting some of it out during the interview.

I've done dumb things like this before and paid the price.

 

[Richard-H]

The comparisons between the Afga war and the Vietnam war are both nonsensical and very much against the best interests of this country.

Neither the VC or the North Vietnamese ever attacked America or Americans outside of Vietnam. The Taliban thru their ally, Al Queda did.

The Taliban does not have the support of any major nation, like the VC did.

Ultimately, the Vietnamese War was a purely political war that no amount of military force could win. The Vietnamese were a people that we wanted to help - exterminating them or a brutal occupation was antithecal of our very reasons for getting involved in the conflict.

Unfortunately, everybody has "Vietnamese'd" the Afgan war. Note: for lotsa good reasons, "Vietnamesing" the Iraqi war is very reasonable - they did not attack us, and we did invade in an attempt (largely) to help the Irai people.

But the Afgan conflict is COMPLETELY different. They attacked us, they murdered our people. They continue to murder anyone that disagrees with them in any way.

We need to end this "hearts and minds" strategy and execute this war with absolute brutality - including the bombing and invasion of western Pakistan.

Time is very much against us - and the Taliban knows it.

 

[LuckyDan]

The comparisons between the Afga war and the Vietnam war are both nonsensical and very much against the best interests of this country.

Neither the VC or the North Vietnamese ever attacked America or Americans outside of Vietnam. The Taliban thru their ally, Al Queda did.

The Taliban does not have the support of any major nation, like the VC did.

Ultimately, the Vietnamese War was a purely political war that no amount of military force could win. The Vietnamese were a people that we wanted to help - exterminating them or a brutal occupation was antithecal of our very reasons for getting involved in the conflict.

Unfortunately, everybody has "Vietnamese'd" the Afgan war. Note: for lotsa good reasons, "Vietnamesing" the Iraqi war is very reasonable - they did not attack us, and we did invade in an attempt (largely) to help the Irai people.

But the Afgan conflict is COMPLETELY different. They attacked us, they murdered our people. They continue to murder anyone that disagrees with them in any way.

We need to end this "hearts and minds" strategy and execute this war with absolute brutality - including the bombing and invasion of western Pakistan.

Time is very much against us - and the Taliban knows it.

George Will made some excellent points. I just read his column and I have to say, maybe accepting Mc's resignation is the best thing, though not for any reasons I've read on these boards so far:

The not quite seven months that have passed since the president announced his policy have seen sobering military disappointments and daunting evidence of how intractable is the incompetence and how manifold is the corruption of the Kabul government. For as long as we persist in this Sisyphean agony, the president will depend on forthrightness from a military commander whose judgment he trusts. That could not be McChrystal; it is Petraeus. If McChrystal had been retained, he would have henceforth been chastened, abject, wary and reticent. It is unthinkable that he could still have been a valuable participant in future deliberations with the president and his principal national security advisers. The president demanded, and the Americans in harm's way in Afghanistan deserve, better.

He draws a Vietnam parallel, too, but one regarding the nature of the mission - not of the corrupt foreign governement:

It is difficult, and perhaps unwise, to suppress this thought: McChrystal's disrespectful flippancies, and the chorus of equally disdainful comments from the unpleasant subordinates he has chosen to have around him, emanate from the toxic conditions that result when the military's can-do culture collides with a cannot-be-done assignment. In this toxicity, Afghanistan is Vietnam redux.

washingtonpost.com

 

[oreo]

McChrystal is a West Point grad who went on to Special Forces and black ops. Guys who get that far in specops are brilliant men. They are experts in counter-insurgency, counter-terror, counter-intell, and of course, psych-ops. In my humble opinion, McChrystal set the smallest of traps for Mr. Obama. And my oh my did the President step squarely on this brilliant trap. McChrystal may in fact have cost himself his job, but look at the man's past- do you think it bothers him? A man who did black ops in the Mid-East for this country?

He couldn't come out press-conference style and rip Obama. That would be amateur hour, sort of Obama-like. He couldn't stay silent, because as I said, Obama is trying to make a "war" out of the BP spill, and that is overshadowing his disasterous foreign policy.

No, the brilliant, genius special operations veteran went another route. He used the liberal rag Rolling Stones as his messenger. He made a brief, subtle, but definite critique against the Obama administration. And just as planned, Obama bit. And let himself get pulled into yet another embarrassing mess.

Men who spend 6 months planning a 3 day mission for special operations units DO NOT make mistakes. Anytime, anywhere. This piece from McChrystal to Rolling Stones was NOT a mistake, and it was a brilliant move. Obama is in so far over his head.

Your question--OF COURSE HE DID. This general acutally voted for Barack Obambi to be "commander n chief" and his comander n chief turns into "little miss muffit"

 

[JakeStarkey]

The comparisons are absolutely valuable and the truth. Your denial is based on ideology, not facts, Lucky Dan. We can't win in Afghanistan because the window is closed, just like it was closed in Vietnam.

The only way to deal with folks like you is to realize that you can't critically think when your bias is involved, so we will just ignore you when policy and decision making are done.

Yes, they are going to attack here again, as they would have eventually. We need to prepare for that, because we can no longer keep that kind of conflict going on in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Practicalities, my man, practicalities.

 

[JakeStarkey]

Will writes: "If McChrystal had been retained, he would have henceforth been chastened, abject, wary and reticent. It is unthinkable that he could still have been a valuable participant in future deliberations with the president and his principal national security advisers."

Will is wrong. McChyrstal will be a non-player from now on.

 

[editec]

McChrystal is a West Point grad who went on to Special Forces and black ops. Guys who get that far in specops are brilliant men. They are experts in counter-insurgency, counter-terror, counter-intell, and of course, psych-ops. In my humble opinion, McChrystal set the smallest of traps for Mr. Obama. And my oh my did the President step squarely on this brilliant trap. McChrystal may in fact have cost himself his job, but look at the man's past- do you think it bothers him? A man who did black ops in the Mid-East for this country?

He couldn't come out press-conference style and rip Obama. That would be amateur hour, sort of Obama-like. He couldn't stay silent, because as I said, Obama is trying to make a "war" out of the BP spill, and that is overshadowing his disasterous foreign policy.

No, the brilliant, genius special operations veteran went another route. He used the liberal rag Rolling Stones as his messenger. He made a brief, subtle, but definite critique against the Obama administration. And just as planned, Obama bit. And let himself get pulled into yet another embarrassing mess.

Men who spend 6 months planning a 3 day mission for special operations units DO NOT make mistakes. Anytime, anywhere. This piece from McChrystal to Rolling Stones was NOT a mistake, and it was a brilliant move. Obama is in so far over his head.

Of COURSE he did.

Was there ever even a moment's doubt about that?

He elected to retire in a blaze of political glory thus making him a poltical animal to be watched.

Expect to see him launch a new career in the PUBLIC sector, only this time as a POL.

Once people get a taste of the government teat, they tend to look for it even after retiring from the military.

Generals or lifers of any rank, that's extremely common.

 

[LibocalypseNow]

Yea it does make you wonder. He had to know that a Liberal Rag like Rolling Stone would screw him royally. Maybe he did want out. I wouldn't blame him for wanting off that sinking ship. Blaze of Glory stuff i guess. It really is very sad. We lost a true Hero. He will be missed.

 

[KissMy]

President Obama face as he pauses on stage before presenting the Medal of Honor posthumously to Air Force...

 

[Missourian]

McChrystal is a West Point grad who went on to Special Forces and black ops. Guys who get that far in specops are brilliant men. They are experts in counter-insurgency, counter-terror, counter-intell, and of course, psych-ops. In my humble opinion, McChrystal set the smallest of traps for Mr. Obama. And my oh my did the President step squarely on this brilliant trap. McChrystal may in fact have cost himself his job, but look at the man's past- do you think it bothers him? A man who did black ops in the Mid-East for this country?

He couldn't come out press-conference style and rip Obama. That would be amateur hour, sort of Obama-like. He couldn't stay silent, because as I said, Obama is trying to make a "war" out of the BP spill, and that is overshadowing his disasterous foreign policy.

No, the brilliant, genius special operations veteran went another route. He used the liberal rag Rolling Stones as his messenger. He made a brief, subtle, but definite critique against the Obama administration. And just as planned, Obama bit. And let himself get pulled into yet another embarrassing mess.

Men who spend 6 months planning a 3 day mission for special operations units DO NOT make mistakes. Anytime, anywhere. This piece from McChrystal to Rolling Stones was NOT a mistake, and it was a brilliant move. Obama is in so far over his head.

You know, when I read about Woodward's new book last night, this was the first thought that crossed my mind.

 

[gautama]

McChrystal is a West Point grad who went on to Special Forces and black ops. Guys who get that far in specops are brilliant men. They are experts in counter-insurgency, counter-terror, counter-intell, and of course, psych-ops. In my humble opinion, McChrystal set the smallest of traps for Mr. Obama. And my oh my did the President step squarely on this brilliant trap. McChrystal may in fact have cost himself his job, but look at the man's past- do you think it bothers him? A man who did black ops in the Mid-East for this country?

He couldn't come out press-conference style and rip Obama. That would be amateur hour, sort of Obama-like. He couldn't stay silent, because as I said, Obama is trying to make a "war" out of the BP spill, and that is overshadowing his disasterous foreign policy.

No, the brilliant, genius special operations veteran went another route. He used the liberal rag Rolling Stones as his messenger. He made a brief, subtle, but definite critique against the Obama administration. And just as planned, Obama bit. And let himself get pulled into yet another embarrassing mess.

Men who spend 6 months planning a 3 day mission for special operations units DO NOT make mistakes. Anytime, anywhere. This piece from McChrystal to Rolling Stones was NOT a mistake, and it was a brilliant move. Obama is in so far over his head.

A possibility I wouldn't dismiss.

 

[JakeStarkey]

President Obama face as he pauses on stage before presenting the Medal of Honor posthumously to Air Force...

Any veteran understands the look and thanks him for it.

 

[LibocalypseNow]

Afghanistan is a real mess. This President and the Democrats have been far too busy attacking and calling fellow Americans "Racists" and suing them to care about what's going on in Afghanistan. They've declared War on their fellow American Citizens. Obviously that War gets a higher priority than the Afghan War does. They are now losing Afghanistan and they know it.

McChrystal simply told the truth about the shocking incompetence in this Administration and he paid the price for that honesty. He was very important over there. Petraeus just isn't doing the job as well as McChrystal. McChrystal built up close relationships with Afghans and especially Karzai. He is being missed over there. I think McChrystal got out when the gettin was still good. He couldn't work for these incompetent buffoons anymore. So it is possible he did this on purpose. I think he's relieved that he no longer has to deal with these jerks. Afghanistan is now almost completely lost. It is very sad.

 

[JakeStarkey]

LibocalypseNow, it is very sad the fauxcon far wack right has declared war on America. Very sad.