Military General Bashes Obama Administration

[Sinatra]

Ouch - it appears Rolling Stone is about to break open the story of the long standing infighting between the Obama White House and current leader of American forces in Afghanistan, General McChrystal...
___

Oh boy: “Rolling Stone” to expose McChrystal’s feuding with administration officials


An article out this week in “Rolling Stone” magazine depicts Gen. Stanley McChrystal as a lone wolf on the outs with many important figures in the Obama administration and unable to convince even some of his own soldiers that his strategy can win the war…
McChrystal himself is described by an aide as “disappointed” in his first Oval Office meeting with an unprepared President Barack Obama. The article says that although McChrystal voted for Obama, the two failed to connect from the start. Obama called McChrystal on the carpet last fall for speaking too bluntly about his desire for more troops.

...McChrystal said he felt “betrayed” and accused the ambassador of giving himself cover.
“Here’s one that covers his flank for the history books,” McChrystal told the magazine. “Now, if we fail, they can say ‘I told you so.”‘



Hot Air Oh boy: “Rolling Stone” to expose McChrystal’s feuding with administration officials

 

[uscitizen]

Hmm, Insubordination to a superior officer or worse if true?

Obama IS the generals supreme commanding officer.

Such unprofessional behaviour.. tsk tsk

 

[Jack Fate]

Hmm, Insubordination to a superior officer or worse if true?

Obama IS the generals supreme commanding officer.

Such unprofessional behaviour.. tsk tsk

BO isn't qualified to polish the General's boots.

 

[Sinatra]

Hmm, Insubordination to a superior officer or worse if true?

Obama IS the generals supreme commanding officer.

Does appear quite out of character for an officer to be so open in challenging the CiC.

Either he is committing potential career suicide out of arrogant insubordination, or the rift between he and the administration, and this general's concern over said administration's inablity to lead during a time of war, has forced his sensibilities to do so.

Quite interesting either way...

 

[Sinatra]

Very sad to see such dissention among the top brass and the current administration at a time when the war in Afghanistan does appear to be shifting in favor of the Taliban.

The troops on the ground must be having a terribly difficult time of this - and yet they soldier on, as always...

 

[maineman]

Hmm, Insubordination to a superior officer or worse if true?

Obama IS the generals supreme commanding officer.

Such unprofessional behaviour.. tsk tsk

bingo.

if the story is true, they should strip him of at LEAST one star and drum him out of the service.

 

[uscitizen]

Hmm, Insubordination to a superior officer or worse if true?

Obama IS the generals supreme commanding officer.

Such unprofessional behaviour.. tsk tsk

BO isn't qualified to polish the General's boots.

It is the way of many officers in the military in respect to their subordiinates.
However per our constitution (that scrap of paper) Obama is the military commander for the USA.

I felt Bush sucked too, but I posted against the military people that openly criticized Bush while he was busy screwing the pooch in Iraq.

 

[my2¢]

Sounds interesting but like a good number of these types of books in past years I'll never get around to reading it. To me it is too much like listening to a candidate spewing his version of reality unchecked. But I do enjoy hearing the good parts and so thanks for passing it along.

 

[Toome]

I'll take a wait and see on this one. Most of what I read were comments made by people other than McChrystal, and I credit the general with being smart enough not to hang himself by making inflammatory statements to the media. However, I would not be surprised if the media distorted some of McChrystal's comments.

Either way, the Obama administration should be careful how it handles this incident. This guy is a real warrior and real live, no-bullshit, hero.

 

[Sinatra]

Hmm, Insubordination to a superior officer or worse if true?

Obama IS the generals supreme commanding officer.

Such unprofessional behaviour.. tsk tsk

bingo.

if the story is true, they should strip him of at LEAST one star and drum him out of the service.

And something along those lines might very well be considered - but that would create a significant face off between a very high ranking, and highly regarded military leader, and the Obama White House, which is undergoing serious challenges from many fronts, with reported dissention ongoing from within its own rank and file.

No winners from such a scenario.

McChrystal has strong ties to the Joint Chiefs as well as the rank and file, and is a well known and proven commodity.

The Obama administration...not so much so.

 

[uscitizen]

Hmm, Insubordination to a superior officer or worse if true?

Obama IS the generals supreme commanding officer.

Such unprofessional behaviour.. tsk tsk

bingo.

if the story is true, they should strip him of at LEAST one star and drum him out of the service.

And something along those lines might very well be considered - but that would create a significant face off between a very high ranking, and highly regarded military leader, and the Obama White House, which is undergoing serious challenges from many fronts, with reported dissention ongoing from within its own rank and file.

No winners from such a scenario.

McChrystal has strong ties to the Joint Chiefs as well as the rank and file, and is a well known and proven commodity.

The Obama administration...not so much so.

Sounds like you would encourage a military coup?

 

[Sinatra]

I'll take a wait and see on this one. Most of what I read were comments made by people other than McChrystal, and I credit the general with being smart enough not to hang himself by making inflammatory statements to the media. However, I would not be surprised if the media distorted some of McChrystal's comments.

Either way, the Obama administration should be careful how it handles this incident. This guy is a real warrior and real live, no-bullshit, hero.

-___

Quite right - and if these and other comments by McChrystal are in fact correct, and right now it is the AP that is breaking the story, it will further legitimize the repeated assertions of a growing rift between the military leadership and the Obama White House.

McChrystal is no fool - if he is in fact going forward with such an attack against this White House, it must be for some tactical purpose - a purpose instigated by his personal responsibility to the soldiers he commands.

As said earlier - very interesting...

 

[hortysir]

Hmm, Insubordination to a superior officer or worse if true?

Obama IS the generals supreme commanding officer.

Such unprofessional behaviour.. tsk tsk

BO isn't qualified to polish the General's boots.

That opinion is totally irrelevant.

 

[Sinatra]

For instance, an update to the original story - implicating the administration in, for lack of a better term, paying off the Taliban, who then in turn take those payments to buy the very weapons they then use against the military. This situation alone has be creating significant friction between the troops, the private contractors and the private contractors current support by the Obama administration...
___

Private security contractors protecting the convoys that supply U.S. military bases in Afghanistan are paying millions of dollars a week in “passage bribes” to the Taliban and other insurgent groups to travel along Afghan roads, a congressional investigation released Monday has found.
The payments, which are reimbursed by the U.S. government, help fund the very enemy the U.S. is attempting to defeat and renew questions about the U.S. dependence on private contractors, who outnumber American troops in Afghanistan , 130,000 to 93,000.

The report’s author called the findings of the six-month investigation “sobering and shocking.”

Hot Air Oh boy: “Rolling Stone” to expose McChrystal’s feuding with administration officials; Update: WH, Gates phone McChrystal

 

[maineman]

Hmm, Insubordination to a superior officer or worse if true?

Obama IS the generals supreme commanding officer.

Such unprofessional behaviour.. tsk tsk

bingo.

if the story is true, they should strip him of at LEAST one star and drum him out of the service.

And something along those lines might very well be considered - but that would create a significant face off between a very high ranking, and highly regarded military leader, and the Obama White House, which is undergoing serious challenges from many fronts, with reported dissention ongoing from within its own rank and file.

No winners from such a scenario.

McChrystal has strong ties to the Joint Chiefs as well as the rank and file, and is a well known and proven commodity.

The Obama administration...not so much so.

I would suggest that , in the Truman-MaCArthur face off, for example, Truman won and the old soldier faded away into irrelevance.

 

[CaféAuLait]

Top general in Afghan war: US envoy betrayed me

The Associated Press: Top general in Afghan war: US envoy betrayed me

Says that his aids were mocking Biden too.

 

[ConHog]

It isn't unusual at all for theater commanders to disagree with the president, and it isn't illegal. What would be insubordination would be yoiu know if he actually refused a lawful order. UCMJ does not say you can't disagree with a superior officer, it merely says you better obey whether you agree or not.
Some of you , once again, need to learn what it is you speak of.


I won't even bother listing the history of Theater commanders who argued LOUDLY with their CiC over how things are being run from the White House. The only thing that Obama could do is to essentially fire him, but that would be stupid and so Obama will tolerate it as long as the man continues to produce results in Afghanistan.

 

[Sinatra]

Top general in Afghan war: US envoy betrayed me

The Associated Press: Top general in Afghan war: US envoy betrayed me

Says that his aids were mocking Biden too.

Wow.

Dissention all around - even among the troops themselves who are getting pissed and tired at being over there unable to fight in the manner they were trained...

 

[Care4all]

says he's cheney's man, in the article....also says other military people working with the general think he's got the wrong strategy....

sounds to me like the general protests too much....but of course this could be how the media and the blog is trying to spin it?

 

[Quantum Windbag]

Hmm, Insubordination to a superior officer or worse if true?

Obama IS the generals supreme commanding officer.

Such unprofessional behaviour.. tsk tsk

You are assuming that McChrystal is giving Rolling Stone an interview, which would be against his character. What is more likely is that a bunch of people who hate him in the administration are talking about him to make him look bad. Unfortunately for them, Rolling Stone has turned out to be the last real media outlet in America, and is actually reporting both sides of the story, without talking to McChrystal.