McChrystal's crime? He is quoted as suggesting that the President is out of touch. The other comments including the priceless jab at VP Bite-Me were made by the General's staff, not cool but certainly not worthy of a dismissal.
The point of the Rolling Stone/Hasting article was lost to the wind as republicans and democrats whipped into a feeding frenzy by the buzzmedia and talking head punditocracy denounced McChrystal. Never before has so much been said about so little that was said in the history of the US Army.
Those reading the complete article are shocked to discover that McChrystal and staff were not planning to over throw the government and suspend the Constitution, just simply passing time while stuck in Paris. McChrystal and his staff were not making a public statement nor addressing the forces he commands. The damming analog was just talk observed by an embedded journalist, who used those comments as lead in to a detailed expose' on the Afghan war effort.
Now reacting to the uneducated public many politicians including South Carolina's Lindsay Graham have spoken out in support of the President's decision. But was it Obama's best option? Was it the best move considering what is on the line is Afghanistan?
The lesson of Waterloo is pick your battles carefully and don't try to take on all the bad guys at one time. If history teaches us one thing its not to fix things that aren't broken. McChrystal had a good handle on the Afghan war. He knew the challenge and was as hard working as he was straight talking. More importantly he was respected by the men on the ground and had built a strong relationship with the Afghans.
Petreus is a manager, a bureaucrat who was smart enough to have guys like McChrystal on the front lines.
McChrystal had complained to Petreus that POTUS and Congress were out of touch with regards to "COIN" all would be wise to read and understand "COIN" Counter Insurgency Operations here.
The truth is Obama is today and he has been in the past distracted, and this distraction will cost us the war in Afghanistan and this battle his Waterloo will leave Obama as a one term president.
9 comments:
Obama has accomplished more since he has been in office than Dubya did in 8 years....and speaking of Dubya, if he had not invaded Iraq and become
DISTRACTED by that little war, the war we are fighting in Afghanistan would be OVER.
Obama did the right thing, and Petraeus is the right General for this job!!
Give the Obama bashing a rest, Cedar.
Gimme a break...let's all throw up our hands, run in circles, and shout: "Obama, Obama, Obama!" Maybe Obama has done more already than Bush did in eight years, but anyone that get's out from under the anti-Bush/King Obama microscope will see that these 'things' he has done are all pointless and insignificant, and have nothing to do with his campaign promises.
McChrystal did nothing that should have ended his career and he was just as capable as Petraeus. Obama has no military knowledge or mindset, so he'll be just like every other Democrat president and run the armed forces, along with the wars they are fighting, into the ground.
Thanks, Cedar for being one of the few to point out who is actually in the wrong here.
Nice try Anonymous 3:11. I'll be the first to agree W was a mess, and Carter and Ford and Clinton and Johnson so that leaves who Reagan and Kennendy?
Lets compare Obama to the two that matter, ohhhhh dang he doesn't even come close!!
So sit down 3:11 and shut up!
Funny Obama was really quick to fire McChrystal for a few less than choice words, but he never so much as peeped about Tony Hayward's on going gaffs, and suckass comments.
No need to bash Osama, he's doing a fine job all by himself.
Osama is below the 50/50 mark more people give him thumbs down than up.
So say what you like about Cedar but he's right and here is the mainstream press to back him up.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703900004575325263274951230.html?mod=WSJ_hpp_MIDDLETopStories
So you think Dubya had a military "
mindset".....during his Reserve weekends, he couldn't be found, most likely out doin' a little Blow. He was in the RESERVES, and never served a day in the regular AF....and wasn't there a war going on then?
And his second in command, Chicken Chaney, got, was it 6 or 7, "deferments" and never served a day. He quickly deftly sidestepped VN.
So after a year and a half, after we suffered 8 long, long years with Dubya, after a year and a half everyone is so ready to jump on Obama....but most of the people that read this blog are right wingers, I know.
And no, the only ones that consider Obama "King", the ones that GAVE him that label, you got it, the extreme right wingers...go figure.
And Dubya did a fine job of "running the military" into the ground all by himself.
I'm sure you get all of your info and "news" from Faux News.
Only a liberal could think a general w/30 yrs of service is an idiot & a 3 year community organizer is a military genius.
We wouldn't be in this mess had OBAMA not invaded and occupied Afghanistan and Iraq to begin with, going on a wild goose chase for fictional WMDs and fictional boogeymen resulting in the deaths of over 100,000 innocent lives!
Oh, wait...
So might I ask why your blog name is cedar posts and bared wire fences? I love the name it is very unique. This is an interesting post, you could incorporate them both and call it fencing in Waterloo!!
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