Retired (and the pious) Gen. Stanley Mcchrystal wouldn't work for 'immoral' Trump washex.am/2GPshIf
GENERAL MCCHRYSTAL RECALLED (UPDATED) smallwarsjournal.com/blog/general-m…
A forthcoming piece in Rolling Stone magazine has sent shock waves around the world this morning as General Stanley McChrystal, the U.S.'s top commander in Afghanistan, has been summoned to Washington to answer for quotes he gave to journalist Michael Hastings.
In the article, McChrystal is quoted as disparaging Obama administration officials, mocking Vice President Biden, and denouncing retired General Karl Eikenberry, the U.S. ambassador to Afghanistan.
In Hastings' profile, as reported by the AFP, McChrystal asks, "Who's that?" at the mention of Biden's name. Another adviser jests, "Biden? Did you say bite me?"
However, McChrystal reserves his most scathing criticism for Eikenberry, saying he felt "betrayed" by a leaked diplomatic cable written by the ambassador in which he questioned McChrystal's strategy of bringing more troops to Afghanistan.
McChrystal accuses Eikenberry of trying to insulate himself from history's scornful eye. "Here's one that covers his flank for the history books. Now if we fail, they can say, 'I told you so,'" McChrystal told Hastings.
McChrystal issued an apology from Afghanistan, saying, "It was a mistake reflecting poor judgment and should never happened." Adm. Mike Mullen has told McChrystal about his "deep disappointment" over the profile, according to a spokesman.
How'd I get screwed into going to this dinner?" demands Gen. Stanley McChrystal. It's a Thursday night in mid-April, and the commander of all U.S. and NATO forces in Afghanistan is sitting in a four-star suite at the Hôtel Westminster in Paris.
"The dinner comes with the position, sir," says his chief of staff, Col. Charlie Flynn.
McChrystal turns sharply in his chair.
"Hey, Charlie," he asks, "does this come with the position?"
McChrystal gives him the middle finger.
McChrystal turns sharply in his chair.
"Hey, Charlie," he asks, "does this come with the position?"
McChrystal gives him the middle finger.
President Obama took months to decide whether the plan for a renewed effort in the Afghanistan war was the right one. He took little more than a day to decide that the general should be fired for making disparaging comments about the president and his national security team.
Through his recklessness, arrogance and naivete about the effect of his rash criticism of top officials, McChrystal challenged the principle of civilian control of the military. He sowed divisiveness and mistrust at the highest levels of leadership in a time of war.
McChrystal was quoted as ridiculing Obama and his vice president. “The general prides himself on being sharper than anyone else, but brashness comes with a price:
“...although McChrystal has been in charge of the war in Afghanistan for only a year, in that short time he has managed to irritate almost everyone with a stake in the conflict,” said an insider. “He never takes his eyes away from the real enemies of the US: the wimps in the WH.”
But however strategic they may be, McChrystal’s new marching orders have caused an intense backlash among his own troops. Being told to hold their fire, soldiers complain, puts them in greater danger.
“Bottom line?” says a former Special Forces operator who has spent years in Iraq and Afghanistan. “I would love to kick McChrystal in the nuts. His rules of engagement put soldiers’ lives in even greater danger. Every real soldier will tell you the same thing.”
The soldiers complain about not being allowed to use lethal force, about watching insurgents they detain be freed for lack of evidence. They want to be able to fight – like they did in Iraq, like they had in Afghanistan. “We aren’t putting fear into the Taliban,” one soldier says
