The Other McCain

"One should either write ruthlessly what one believes to be the truth, or else shut up." — Arthur Koestler

If McChrystal Is McArthur . . .

Posted on | June 22, 2010 | 29 Comments

. . . in this analogy, then I guess Barack Obama is trying to be Harry Truman:

The top commander in Afghanistan, Gen. Stanley McChrystal, has been summoned to the White House to explain biting and unflattering remarks he made to a freelance writer about President Barack Obama and others in the Obama administration.
The face-to-face comes as pundits are already calling for McChrystal to resign for insubordination. . . .

Ed Morrissey summarizes the general’s gaffes:

McChrystal’s team called National Security Adviser Jim Jones a “clown” stuck in 1985, according to Politico’s report from the Rolling Stone article. They called VP Joe Biden “Bite Me” over his opposition to the surge. As Allahpundit noted last night, however, the big bombshell came from McChrystal himself, who accused Obama of being unprepared for their meeting and describing it as “disappointing.”

Jules Crittenden says that McChrystal has mastered “advanced petard hoistmanship.” War as an exercise in politics or public relations is certainly different than war as . . . y’know, war.

More at Memeorandum.

UPDATE: One of my Twitter buddies:

Gen. McChrystal symbolizes the open contempt our military feels for this ridiculous administration.

Yeah, but you’re not supposed to say it out loud, troop — and you’re certainly not supposed to say it out loud in a conversation with a reporter from Rolling Stone. If you’re a senior commander and you feel the civilian leadership is screwed up, the thing to do is to announce your retirement, and then write a book about how screwed up the civilian leadership is.

Category: Aghanistan, Barack Obama, Military

Comments

29 Responses to “If McChrystal Is McArthur . . .”

  1. NealDewing
    June 22nd, 2010 @ 1:22 pm

    Sadly, generals need to know how to play politics and kill the enemy. Especially when the boss is a civilian elected by the people that military is defending.
    From what I understand McChrystal’s ROE were a potentially bigger problem…

  2. NealDewing
    June 22nd, 2010 @ 9:22 am

    Sadly, generals need to know how to play politics and kill the enemy. Especially when the boss is a civilian elected by the people that military is defending.
    From what I understand McChrystal’s ROE were a potentially bigger problem…

  3. Jeff weimer
    June 22nd, 2010 @ 1:58 pm

    You’re not only supposed to not say it out loud, saying it out loud is against the law. McChrystal may be falling on his sword, but Rolling Stone? He had to know that, regardless of the truth, they would do their best to protect the President and make Stan look petty and incompetent. There is no such thing as “off the record” with Rolling Stone if you are military, Republilcan, or both. they really don’t care about “burning a source” in that situation.

  4. Jeff weimer
    June 22nd, 2010 @ 9:58 am

    You’re not only supposed to not say it out loud, saying it out loud is against the law. McChrystal may be falling on his sword, but Rolling Stone? He had to know that, regardless of the truth, they would do their best to protect the President and make Stan look petty and incompetent. There is no such thing as “off the record” with Rolling Stone if you are military, Republilcan, or both. they really don’t care about “burning a source” in that situation.

  5. Joe
    June 22nd, 2010 @ 2:24 pm

    McChrystal’s comments are all rather obvious (although his liking of Hillary seems a bit odd) but McChrystal is not supposed to say stuff like this in public. Truman put up with a lot of BS before he canned McArthur. My guess is Obama is a bit more thin skinned.

  6. Joe
    June 22nd, 2010 @ 10:24 am

    McChrystal’s comments are all rather obvious (although his liking of Hillary seems a bit odd) but McChrystal is not supposed to say stuff like this in public. Truman put up with a lot of BS before he canned McArthur. My guess is Obama is a bit more thin skinned.

  7. paul mitchell
    June 22nd, 2010 @ 2:25 pm

    Simply dumb on the General’s part. He should resign now.

  8. paul mitchell
    June 22nd, 2010 @ 10:25 am

    Simply dumb on the General’s part. He should resign now.

  9. Stinky
    June 22nd, 2010 @ 2:41 pm

    I think the general knew exactly what he was doing – you don’t rise to that level without being politically savvy. He KNEW this was career suicide. To me, this indicates how dire the situation is in Afghanistan, and the lengths to which the General was willing to go to reveal it and hopefully get some improvements in US policy towards Afghanistan.

    I am unsurprised that the focus is on McChrystal on not on his criticisms. Compare and contrast how everyone reacted to Gen. Shinseki’s criticisms of Bush – he was a great whistle blower and a hero, while McChrystal is being treated like a rube.

  10. Stinky
    June 22nd, 2010 @ 10:41 am

    I think the general knew exactly what he was doing – you don’t rise to that level without being politically savvy. He KNEW this was career suicide. To me, this indicates how dire the situation is in Afghanistan, and the lengths to which the General was willing to go to reveal it and hopefully get some improvements in US policy towards Afghanistan.

    I am unsurprised that the focus is on McChrystal on not on his criticisms. Compare and contrast how everyone reacted to Gen. Shinseki’s criticisms of Bush – he was a great whistle blower and a hero, while McChrystal is being treated like a rube.

  11. wombat-socho
    June 22nd, 2010 @ 3:13 pm

    Unlike MacArthur, I don’t think McChrystal is just going to fade away into retirement. If they’re dumb enough to request his resignation, he’ll write one up – and then go out and see how badly he can burn the 0bots. Different times produce different men, and somehow I don’t think McChrystal is going to sit around in retirement placidly ignoring the slime Obama’s minions are surely preparing for him. He’s going to take some people down with him, I’m sure.

  12. wombat-socho
    June 22nd, 2010 @ 11:13 am

    Unlike MacArthur, I don’t think McChrystal is just going to fade away into retirement. If they’re dumb enough to request his resignation, he’ll write one up – and then go out and see how badly he can burn the 0bots. Different times produce different men, and somehow I don’t think McChrystal is going to sit around in retirement placidly ignoring the slime Obama’s minions are surely preparing for him. He’s going to take some people down with him, I’m sure.

  13. Thrasymachus
    June 22nd, 2010 @ 4:08 pm

    Isn’t McChrystal the idiotic rules of engagement guy? Maybe his staff wants him gone and is stirring up trouble with the administration to help make that happen.

  14. Thrasymachus
    June 22nd, 2010 @ 12:08 pm

    Isn’t McChrystal the idiotic rules of engagement guy? Maybe his staff wants him gone and is stirring up trouble with the administration to help make that happen.

  15. Ben (The Tiger)
    June 22nd, 2010 @ 12:13 pm

    McChrystal’s got to go.

    It doesn’t matter whether some of his criticisms are right — if you don’t feel that you can serve your president, you write this stuff in a letter of resignation.

    Truman fired Patton _and_ MacArthur.

    Obama needs to fire McChrystal.

  16. Ben (The Tiger)
    June 22nd, 2010 @ 4:13 pm

    McChrystal’s got to go.

    It doesn’t matter whether some of his criticisms are right — if you don’t feel that you can serve your president, you write this stuff in a letter of resignation.

    Truman fired Patton _and_ MacArthur.

    Obama needs to fire McChrystal.

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  19. DaveP.
    June 22nd, 2010 @ 7:06 pm

    No President, right or wrong, can afford to tolerate this kind of behavior from a general, right or wrong. McChrystal needs to be sacked and Obama needs to do it.

    McChrystal’s “OMG sorry sorry sorry…” routine is even more shameful. If you’re going to blow your career to Tell It Like It Is, don’t go whining about the consequences.

  20. DaveP.
    June 22nd, 2010 @ 3:06 pm

    No President, right or wrong, can afford to tolerate this kind of behavior from a general, right or wrong. McChrystal needs to be sacked and Obama needs to do it.

    McChrystal’s “OMG sorry sorry sorry…” routine is even more shameful. If you’re going to blow your career to Tell It Like It Is, don’t go whining about the consequences.

  21. Stinky
    June 22nd, 2010 @ 7:36 pm

    Maybe everyone calling for McChrystal’s firing should take a breath. If you actually read the article, the inflammatory comments in the article are being attributed to UNNAMED AIDS, and NOT to McChrystal:

    http://legalinsurrection.blogspot.com/2010/06/has-anyone-including-mcchrystal.html

  22. Stinky
    June 22nd, 2010 @ 3:36 pm

    Maybe everyone calling for McChrystal’s firing should take a breath. If you actually read the article, the inflammatory comments in the article are being attributed to UNNAMED AIDS, and NOT to McChrystal:

    http://legalinsurrection.blogspot.com/2010/06/has-anyone-including-mcchrystal.html

  23. Bob Belvedere
    June 22nd, 2010 @ 8:21 pm

    Doug MacArthur didn’t whine.

  24. Bob Belvedere
    June 22nd, 2010 @ 4:21 pm

    Doug MacArthur didn’t whine.

  25. H. G. Fielding
    June 22nd, 2010 @ 9:52 pm

    If you actually read the article, the inflammatory comments in the article are being attributed to UNNAMED AIDS, and NOT to McChrystal

    There’s a line the The Patriot Stinky, that’s relevant here. It’s the one where General Lord Cornwallis rebukes Tavington: “You serve me and the way you serve reflects upon me!”

    McChrystal’s done.

  26. H. G. Fielding
    June 22nd, 2010 @ 5:52 pm

    If you actually read the article, the inflammatory comments in the article are being attributed to UNNAMED AIDS, and NOT to McChrystal

    There’s a line the The Patriot Stinky, that’s relevant here. It’s the one where General Lord Cornwallis rebukes Tavington: “You serve me and the way you serve reflects upon me!”

    McChrystal’s done.

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  28. just a conservative girl
    June 23rd, 2010 @ 12:26 pm

    I got called a traitor for saying that he was stupid for making these remarks.

    He violated the military code of ethics. He didn’t go quite as far as to qualify for dishonorable discharge, but he went far enough. Even if it were his aides that said the worst of it, he allowed them to talk.

    There are some that only concentrating on the fact that they agree with what he said, instead of the rules he broke when he said it.

  29. just a conservative girl
    June 23rd, 2010 @ 8:26 am

    I got called a traitor for saying that he was stupid for making these remarks.

    He violated the military code of ethics. He didn’t go quite as far as to qualify for dishonorable discharge, but he went far enough. Even if it were his aides that said the worst of it, he allowed them to talk.

    There are some that only concentrating on the fact that they agree with what he said, instead of the rules he broke when he said it.