the rix mix

Gen. Stanley McChrystal’s trashing of his civilian colleagues was unprofessional and may cost him his job. If so, it will be a sad end to a fine career. But no general is indispensable.

Thomas Friedman

I can think of one, maybe two indispensable American generals: George Washington & "Stonewall" Jackson.  Not McChrystal.

Of course, McChrystal is a darling of the right. Insubordinate-sounding generals who trash talk civilian authority always are. & maybe we should thank The General for exposing the confusion & in-fighting within the Obama administration. But heroes can be assholes. & he's apparently surrounded by sycophants, just like McClellan, Hooker, & MacArthur, to name three other commanders who disdained the Commander-in-Chief. With the first two,  which this situation most resembles, since McChrystal's contempt is for people more  than policy, Lincoln was willing to risk the trash talk if they'd just engage & defeat the Army of Northern Virginia. Does anyone including McChrystal believe we can secure Afghanistan? Afghanistan isn't even a f*ckin' nation.

Obama  had no choice but to fire McChrystal, & most military experts seem to agree. The President is the boss. A President can't tolerate a top commander & staff blabbing like that in front of an invited journalist. & the griping was so personal & so scattershot; President, Vice President, Ambassador, Joint Chiefs, on & on. Imagine how   harshly any lower soldier would be disciplined by a superior for talking that disrespectfully in public?

Labels: Barack Hussein Obama, in the news