The Rolling Stone article: As bad as advertised

[Ragnar]

Per Hot Air...
Hot Air The Rolling Stone article: As bad as advertised

Via Chris Cillizza on Twitter, Politico has the PDF of the Rolling Stone article that has created a firestorm for General Stanley McChrystal — and it’s at least as bad as advertised. Michael Hastings paints a damning picture of a military leader who seems to have built a toadying entourage, whose disdain and contempt for the political leadership of the country drips from every page, and who doesn’t seem to mind who knows it — until it hits the presses. The most damning criticism comes not from McChrystal, however, but from one of his aides (language warning throughout post):

Taking the advice of both the Pentagon and the Joint Chiefs of Staff, he also fired Gen. David McKiernan – then the U.S. and NATO commander in Afghanistan – and replaced him with a man he didn’t know and had met only briefly: Gen. Stanley McChrystal. It was the first time a top general had been relieved from duty during wartime in more than 50 years, since Harry Truman fired Gen. Douglas MacArthur at the height of the Korean War.

Even though he had voted for Obama, (heh) McChrystal and his new commander in chief failed from the outset to connect. The general first encountered Obama a week after he took office, when the president met with a dozen senior military officials in a room at the Pentagon known as the Tank. According to sources familiar with the meeting, McChrystal thought Obama looked “uncomfortable and intimidated” by the roomful of military brass. Their first one-on-one meeting took place in the Oval Office four months later, after McChrystal got the Afghanistan job, and it didn’t go much better. “It was a 10-minute photo op,” says an adviser to McChrystal. “Obama clearly didn’t know anything about him, who he was. Here’s the guy who’s going to run his fucking war, but he didn’t seem very engaged. The Boss was pretty disappointed.”

That is the kind of revelation that either a commander of a theater of war saves for his memoirs, or resigns to make to Congress. During the war, however, the expectation is that all sides refrain from airing this kind of dirty laundry. McChrystal appears not to know that. Worse yet, these and other anecdotes from his inner circle appear to show that McChrystal either tolerates or actively encourages disrespect for the civilian leadership that runs the US military.

Uh, duh. McChrystal should resign or get fired.

Only one in Obama’s administration gets much respect — and you’ll be surprised who receives it:

Part of the problem is structural: The Defense Department budget exceeds $600 billion a year, while the State Department receives only $50 billion. But part of the problem is personal: In private, Team McChrystal likes to talk shit about many of Obama’s top people on the diplomatic side. One aide calls Jim Jones, a retired four-star general and veteran of the Cold War, a “clown” who remains “stuck in 1985.” Politicians like McCain and Kerry, says another aide, “turn up, have a meeting with Karzai, criticize him at the airport press conference, then get back for the Sunday talk shows. Frankly, it’s not very helpful.” Only Hillary Clinton receives good reviews from McChrystal’s inner circle. “Hillary had Stan’s back during the strategic review,” says an adviser. “She said, ‘If Stan wants it, give him what he needs.’ ”

Ed goes on to say that McChrystal ain't no Patton or MacArthur "So far, McChrystal hasn’t earned enough leash by winning anything." I guess I agree with this. If it's the case that CinC Obama had policy problems that make winning unlikely or not possible then McChrystal should have quit and said so. You follow the chain of command or you quit and say why you can't.

More at Politico...
Furious President Obama summons Gen. Stanley McChrystal to D.C. - Gordon Lubold - POLITICO.com

 

[Ragnar]

WaPo on the first "casualty" of this whole debacle...
washingtonpost.com

KABUL -- Gen. Stanley A. McChrystal's civilian press aide resigned Tuesday over an upcoming magazine story that portrayed the top U.S. commander in Afghanistan and some of his aides as derisive toward Obama administration officials.

Duncan Boothby, who has been on McChrystal's staff for roughly a year, was the first casualty of a controversy that prompted White House officials to summon the general to the White House to explain the remarks in the profile that will appear in this week's issue of Rolling Stone.

 

[Baruch Menachem]

Lincoln had problems with loudmouth generals like Burnside and Hooker as well. They didn't last long.

One of the huge advantages to Grant (besides the fact he won consistently) was he kept his mouth shut

You have to wonder about what 0bama is thinking, as he has a history of this kind of really brilliant appointment.

Guy has to go. You can't have an insubordinate commander in a democratic military. If we can't keep a brilliant leader like McArthur, we have no time for a bureaucratic time waster either.

 

[Ragnar]

Lincoln had problems with loudmouth generals like Burnside and Hooker as well. They didn't last long.

One of the huge advantages to Grant (besides the fact he won consistently) was he kept his mouth shut

You have to wonder about what 0bama is thinking, as he has a history of this kind of really brilliant appointment.

Guy has to go. You can't have an insubordinate commander in a democratic military. If we can't keep a brilliant leader like McArthur, we have no time for a bureaucratic time waster either.

Good points.

I do think President Obama made it tough on himself by putting a timeline on the war. Already NATO and Michael O’Hanlon of the Left leaning Brookings Inst. (per Politico link) have expressed support for McChrystal. So has John Kerry (who served in Vietnam ) of all people. (no link, I just heard him on the radio)

McChrystal may just be headed to the White House for a spanking but if I were betting on it, I'd say he is working on his resume in the plane right now.