Merged Gen. McChrystal summoned to Washington over Rolling Stone profile

[Augustine]

He could be demoted without a court-martial. (Administrative reduction, I think Kensinger took one.) However, he can't be demoted without at least the prospect of a court-martial; i.e. he can refuse the administrative reduction, and if the threat of court-martial is not there, or realistic, you're bluffing with an empty hand.

 

[dudalb]

I am certainly learning a great deal about the military. Nothing to its credit, unfortunately. I'm reminded of Kubrick's Doctor Strangelove ....

You can't run the military as a debating society. It simply does not work.
And thanks for the stereotype that all members of the military are like Buck Turgidson and Jack D Ripper.

 

[Doctor Evil]

Fired.

 

[dtugg]

Apparently, CENTCOM Commander Gen. David Petraeus is going to replace him. I imagine that given his experience and the fact that Afghanistan is part of his AOR, he is the best man for the job, although it is a reduction of command for Petraeus.

 

[dudalb]

If the war in Afghanistan was going well, he might have gotten off with a reprimand, but the war is not going well, and if things are not going well bad mouthing your Commander in the Media is not a good idea.
It will be interesting to see if the Tea Party wing of the GOP does try to do a McArthur with him. Problem is, McChrystal ain't no MacArthur.

 

[ravdin]

If the war in Afghanistan was going well, he might have gotten off with a reprimand, but the war is not going well, and if things are not going well bad mouthing your Commander in the Media is not a good idea.
It will be interesting to see if the Tea Party wing of the GOP does try to do a McArthur with him. Problem is, McChrystal ain't no MacArthur.

If McChrystal hadn't been sacked, then Obama would be pilloried by the teabaggers as a weakling (and I'd have to agree with them, but that's beside the point). Damned if you do, damned if you don't.

 

[rwguinn]

If McChrystal hadn't been sacked, then Obama would be pilloried by the teabaggers as a weakling (and I'd have to agree with them, but that's beside the point). Damned if you do, damned if you don't.

My wife detests Obama. I don't like him.
We both agree McChrystal deserved to be fired. You do not publicly belittle or ridicule the boss--and in the Military, the only "Private"s are in barracks...

 

[Ziggurat]

If the war in Afghanistan was going well, he might have gotten off with a reprimand, but the war is not going well, and if things are not going well bad mouthing your Commander in the Media is not a good idea.
It will be interesting to see if the Tea Party wing of the GOP does try to do a McArthur with him. Problem is, McChrystal ain't no MacArthur.

For the most part I don't think they will, because the replacement is Petraeus. I think it's a good choice, but politically Obama's vulnerability is not in choosing Petraeus now, but rather what happened in the past, and that's where most of the criticism will probably come from. Things might be different if McChrystal was seen as doing a good job, but I don't think that's really the case even among most of Obama's opponents.

 

[Drysdale]

I dont see how Obama does'nt get hurt,at least perception wise by this.

His handpicked General who was an admitted Obama supporter badmouths him and gets fired. Obama then brings back the General who was handpicked by W whom the left despised.

Cant see how this can be good for him no matter how you spin it.

 

[leftysergeant]

McC crapped in his own mess kit. He was seen as challenging the president. The president needs to be in command or we run the risk of a military coup, especially with the teabagger nutcases running about stirring up the muck.

I have not heard any real military people defending the whackjob general or his gang of merry morons. There is no excuse for making that sort of dispaly in front of a reporter. I wonder what operational security may have been breached by McC's big mouth?

 

[dudalb]

I gotta wonder if Obama, who is extremely knowledgable about Abraham Lincoln, decided he did not want to go through another McClellan type routine with this guy.

 

[MattusMaximus]

You might be surprised.

"So far, McChrystal hasn’t earned enough leash by winning anything. Regardless of what one thinks of the current C-in-C [the author doesn't like him], Obama is still the man elected by the people to run the executive branch and the military. The picture this article paints is one of a lack of discipline and respect, and the White House has every right to demand an apology and replace McChrystal with someone who understands better the subtleties of overall command and its politics."

Bully for that author, he/she is spot on in their analysis. I further commend that author, and you Zig, for leaving any political bias out of this particular discussion.

And, I should say, that like the author of that article, I am breathing a huge sigh of relief that Gen. Petraeus has been called upon to replace McChrystal. President Obama made a good move there.

 

[MattusMaximus]

I dont see how Obama does'nt get hurt,at least perception wise by this.

His handpicked General who was an admitted Obama supporter badmouths him and gets fired. Obama then brings back the General who was handpicked by W whom the left despised.
Cant see how this can be good for him no matter how you spin it.

Um, need I point out that such considerations should be secondary, at most? Shouldn't the first priority be to have a reliable & trustworthy chain-of-command so that the war effort in Afghanistan is successfully concluded?

 

[MattusMaximus]

The reason I believe Obama haters will love this, is simple. Much the same as they take any other thing that has to do with Obama, in their partisanship, they will spin it according to their agenda. The angle I see most likely to be played is something of the lines of; "Obama doesn't know how to lead the military... He's lost control of his generals.. He doesn't listen to his ground forces... He's weak.. etc.."

From what I've seen, their hatred of the president is more than enough to rally behind crazy ideas of birtherism.. In fact, it seems some of them are willing to rally behind anyone that hates the president, regardless of the reason.. So why wouldn't they rally behind high level military that disrespect the president? Has the vehemently anti-Obama crowd really shown themselves to be that fair and rational in your mind? If so, you're watching an entirely different crowd of people than I am.. I am NOT talking about level headed moderates that disagree with the president.. I'm talking about the same types that adore Palin, Limbaugh, Hannity, etc.. Do you consider yourself one of them?

ETA: Perfect example of what I'm talking about:

http://world-news.newsvine.com/_new...e-house-summons-general-over-remarks#comments

Yeah, the rightwing Tea Party nuts are in full swing already. You should see some of the comments flying around on the Yahoo News article on this - I've even seen comments within the last few minutes going on about how Gen. Petraeus is a "limp rag" and an "Obama stooge" and therefore not trustworthy, a patriot, yadda yadda.

Sigh -these idiots don't give a damn about anything, except seeing Obama fail. They don't even care what it will do to the United States, Afghanistan, our military, the war effort, etc - nothing matters, just so long as Obama fails. That, and so long as the rightwing media outlets can make a ****load of money by stirring up useless controversy in the process.

Gah, this sort of crap sickens me

 

[Drysdale]

Um, need I point out that such considerations should be secondary, at most? Shouldn't the first priority be to have a reliable & trustworthy chain-of-command so that the war effort in Afghanistan is successfully concluded?

Oh I agree.

But perception is what it is. You can say this should'nt affect him but odds are it will.

 

[dudalb]

You are already seeing a real divide between those in the GOP like McCain who are knowledgable about the Military and are not rushing to glorify McChrystal, and the Tea Baggers who are trying to do the MacArthur/Truman routine with this.

 

[MattusMaximus]

If McChrystal hadn't been sacked, then Obama would be pilloried by the teabaggers as a weakling (and I'd have to agree with them, but that's beside the point). Damned if you do, damned if you don't.

Yup, as it stands now they're moaning about how he "fired a real patriot" and so on. Some are going so far as to call Petraeus an "Obama stooge" and all other sorts of loony crap.

As I said before, those whackjobs seem to care for nothing more than seeing Obama fail. That is their entire agenda, the effects on the rest of the nation & world be damned.

This is the sort of thing that happens when a political party buys into the "rule or ruin" mentality.

 

[Drysdale]

Yeah, the rightwing Tea Party nuts are in full swing already. You should see some of the comments flying around on the Yahoo News article on this - I've even seen comments within the last few minutes going on about how Gen. Petraeus is a "limp rag" and an "Obama stooge" and therefore not trustworthy, a patriot, yadda yadda.

Sigh -these idiots don't give a damn about anything, except seeing Obama fail. They don't even care what it will do to the United States, Afghanistan, our military, the war effort, etc - nothing matters, just so long as Obama fails. That, and so long as the rightwing media outlets can make a ****load of money by stirring up useless controversy in the process.

Gah, this sort of crap sickens me

You know it's funny, I thought the same thing about most of the MSM aka NYTimes,MSNBC etc when Bush was President and I dont even like Bush.

Guess you'd also need to throw Obama himself in there criticizing Petraeus when W was the President no?

And yet only now it sickens you?

 

[MattusMaximus]

Oh I agree.

But perception is what it is. You can say this should'nt affect him but odds are it will.

Yeah, you're right. The hardcore rightwingers & Tea Party nuts will use it as yet another excuse to call him a socialist, Marxist, power-hungry Nazi, while most other reasonable people will see the reality of the situation.

 

[leftysergeant]

I don't see that Obama had any choice but to kick McC to the curb. To do otherwise runs the risk of a dangerous decline in morale, fueled by arrogance, maybe a military coup along the lines of the machinations of the Praetorian Guard.

Every soldier I have spoken with around here agrees that McC had to go.

Patraeus is not an Obama yes-man. He caved too easily to the Shrub, perhaps because he saw what happened to Shinseki and realized that even acting withon the expected parameters, a good officer with opinions could get whacked for doing his job as far as advising the POTUS as to what needed to be done.

I am sure that Paraeus will be more effective in both the tactical arena and in his duties to keep the POTUS up to speed on what is going on there.