One head has already rolled in the wake of Rolling Stone mag's 'Runaway General' profile of Gen. Stanley McChrystal that hasn't even hit the stands. Our top man in Afghanistan's press aide.
Wash Post: The profile of McChrystal, titled the "Runaway General," also raises fresh questions about the judgment and leadership style of the commander appointed by President Obama last year in an effort to turn around a worsening conflict. McChrystal and some of his senior advisers are quoted criticizing top administration officials, at times in starkly derisive terms. An anonymous McChrystal aide is quoted as calling national security adviser James L. Jones a "clown," who remains "stuck in 1985." Referring to Richard C. Holbrooke, Obama's senior envoy to Afghanistan and Pakistan, one McChrystal aide is quoted as saying: "The Boss says he's like a wounded animal. Holbrooke keeps hearing rumors that he's going to get fired, so that makes him dangerous." On one occasion, McChrystal appears to react with exasperation when he receives an e-mail from Holbrooke. "Oh, not another e-mail from Holbrooke," McChrystal says, according to the article. "I don't even want to read it." The story features an exchange in which McChrystal and some of his aides appear to mock Vice President Biden, who opposed McChrystal's troop surge recommendation last year and instead urged a more focused emphasis on counterterrorism operations. "Are you asking me about Vice President Biden?" McChrystal asks the profile's reporter at one point, laughing. "Who's that?" "Biden?" an unnamed aide is quoted as saying. "Did you say Bite me?"
The Washington Examiner's Byron York talked to a veteran military man who has worked with McChrystal and reports the outspoken general was 'an accident waiting to happen.' York says McChrystal's real and deadly offense is 'unreasonably restrictive rules of engagement' resulting in dead soldiers.
An unamed 'senior aide' tells the NYT Obama is 'furious.' Was Obama just as furious when he read Tim Dickinson's Rolling Stone piece on how his administration fucked up the BP oil disaster?
If all of these Monday morning QB's weighing in on the Generals various negatives are true I guess the General was spot on when he said Obama didn't know much about him when he put him in charge. Should we be surprised ? Not when we look at the looooong list of poorly vetted choices Obama has made to date. I personally have a hard time buying into all of the negatives. I can't fathom a man achieving four star status with all that baggage. It is starting to unravel folks, this dust up, Kyle calling him out, the whole Arizona fiasco and of course how can we forget about the ongoing debacle in the Gulf. Public opinion falling like a rock. Orzag jumping ship. Rahm pissed off at the degree of influence by the likes of Valerie Jarret. This guy is in so far over his head that I would think he could just stick his finger in that well head and make like a little dutch boy.
ReplyDeleteAs a true conservative, I feel that the General made a serious and careless mistake in being so candid with a reporter around. As much as I admire his honesty, Obama is still his Commander in Chief. We may not respect the man, but we must respect the office. I would hate to see this action as setting a precedent for future disagreements.
ReplyDeleteI'm right with you, anon, on this one . . .
ReplyDeleteDid my previous post get deleted?
ReplyDeleteGen McChrystal and his staff are only stating the obvious what basically every body in the Military and the Defense Department think about the Obama Administration...
ReplyDeleteTom, I didn't delete it! I still don't know what I'm doing with this program. What happened was I clicked on your comment - it was the sole one at the time - and it disappeared! I'm sorry. I'll get it together . . .
ReplyDelete