Our changing times
This morning we awaken to the Washington Post’s Bruce Ackerman pronouncing that “Generals Shouldn’t Disagree in Public With the Commander in Chief“. Ackerman writes;
As commanding general in Afghanistan, McChrystal has no business making such public pronouncements. Under law, he doesn’t have the right to attend the National Security Council as it decides our strategy. To the contrary, the Goldwater-Nichols Act of 1986 explicitly names the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff as the National Security Council’s exclusive military adviser. If the president wanted McChrystal’s advice, he was perfectly free to ask him to accompany Adm. Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs, when the council held its first meeting on Afghanistan this week.
That’s a little bit different than the article the Post ran in December 2006 when they proudly announced that “White House, Joint Chiefs At Odds on Adding Troops” – no warning that generals shouldn’t publicly disagree with the president when the president is Bush.
A senior administration official said it is “too simplistic” to say the surge question has broken down into a fight between the White House and the Pentagon, but the official acknowledged that the military has questioned the option. “Of course, military leadership is going to be focused on the mission — what you’re trying to accomplish, the ramifications it would have on broader issues in terms of manpower and strength and all that,” the official said.
Leftist blogs have demanded McChrystal resign –
General McChrystal’s breach has been bad enough to deserve peremptory dismissal
And that’s what I think he should get — though I haven’t seen much protest or even much awareness of his breach of protocol.
Others are predicting catastrophe;
Indeed, we are already seeing the damage that can be done when even a sliver of daylight appears between the views of the President and his military commander.
So in these changing times, Generals should now shut up and not advocate for the successful completion of their mission when just a scant few years ago they were celebrated as media stars when they publicly disagreed with the president. I wonder why things have changed.
Category: Barack Obama/Joe Biden, Military issues
I support Gen McChrystal’s right to publicly disagree with policy, just as I support any servicemember’s right to publicly disagree with policy.
Those idiots on the left are complaining about this? Grock…
They ought to crack a book about Lincoln and McClellan, or Lincoln and Hooker, or Lincoln and Halleck, etc. The comments and such between McChrystal and Obama pale to insignificance compared to those of the 1860’s.
Like I have commented numerous times, leftists are pretty much worthless. They read socialist history and Marxist theory and how to “agitate for dummies”, but when it comes to real working intelligence, or real-life abilities, they have squat to offer.
In other news, Watada apparently received an “OTH” discharge. TSO, got anything on this?
http://www.newsmax.com/us/us_war_objector/2009/10/02/267968.html
Matt:
From a Tacoma paper;
He spends a whole 25 minutes with the guy in charge of the war in Afghanistan but pisses away two days and god only knows how many tax dollars to pimp for the Olympics…
How can somebody who claims to be an American be that misguided?
If he’s concerned with American lives maybe he should get on the ground in Afghanistan and visit some of them because some of our so called Allies over there are really just an audience.
Germans won’t fight at night, only during daylight hours, and the Canadians have pulled their people away from any real conflict. That’s why the man is asking for support from American troops because you won’t get it from the idiots the the Useless Nations saddles us with…
Well, in fact the president is Commander in Chief, McChrystal is his subordinate. As more than one lefty has noticed this morning, McChrystal wouldn’t hesitate to dress down someone in his command who publicly disagreed with him. And our brassy Gen would deserve the same from the president. Did the Gen look embarrassed or was he crying in Copenhagen? Big spanking, I betcha. 25 minutes should have pretty much covered it. Ow – eee!
It’s the way the system works, kids. Military subject to civilian control.
McChrystal has already lost a lot of people’s respect even without this screw-up. Look at his role in the Tillman shooting.
You realize, of course, that my point was that the Washington Post is being hypocritical by condemning McChrystal and not the Bush generals.
McChrystal has already lost a lot of people’s respect even without this screw-up. Look at his role in the Tillman shooting.
He has the respect of Petraeus–that’s enough for me.
“Well, in fact the president is Commander in Chief”
Well PW, for some of us that remains to be seen with this President….So far he hasn’t much acted like it..
PW:
Why does anybody do anything at all? As a soldier, Gen. McChrystal’s first responsibility is to the men under his command, and if he isn’t allowed to argue in their best interest, well… HE can resign, but enlisted guys can’t. That’s some real class struggle right there.
Just for curiosity’s sake, what’s your take on Lyndon Johnson and William Westmoreland, respectively?
25 minutes so the fucking Pied Piper, aka COWboy in chief can cover his own sorry ass since the cronies in Shitcago didn’t get their pay-off or his.
McChrystal should put the men under his command first. Someone would have to shoot me dead to get me do something that would knowingly sacrifice my guys. Period.
A general’s job is to accomplish the task given to him through the civilian segment of our government. His task is not to worry about if the President looks good and might take some heat over the policy,.