I have done some reading on the problems between the President and the Military. It is pretty clear that he gave clear and concise instructions to the Military. By July 2011 they better have their duties transferred over to the Afghan Defense Force and be prepared to leave. He clearly told them that they were to no take over any new territory they weren't prepared to leave in a year. I believe the word Check from the Sec of Defense and Ditto from the General was pretty clear. After that, the Military's duty was to do what they were ordered and keep their traps shut about it. Failure to can and did result in removal for McChrystal.
I am not the biggest fan of Harry Truman but the story of his first run in with General MacArthur is one of my favorites. Both the general and the President flew to Midway Island to discuss the position of the United States in the middle of the Korean War. The President's plane arrived on time to find that the General's plane wasn't there. Harry told the pilots to stay aloft as long as they could. When they finally got low on fuel they landed and Harry had the plane go way down the runway. After General MacArthur landed, the POTUS had his plane move to the terminal. The picture in the paper the next day was of general MacArthur standing at the bottom of the stairway greeting the arrival of the President. I am told than in a private meeting shortly thereafter, Harry told Doug that he didn't care what the hell Doug thought of him, the man Harry Truman, he was by god the President and he damn sure better at the bottom of the stairs the next time. There wasn't a next time as Doug out Doug threatened nuclear war and the President relieved him.
Now, let me tell you that somewhere after a couple of years in another country, we owe it to ourselves to clear out and let them be. I think I said it much earlier that what the hell are we going to do when we realize that it took someone with an Iron fist and the will to kill people to rule in Iraq, Iran and Afghanistan. When we realized that we weren't willing to do that, when were we going to just go home?
MUD
I'm going to have to look at it again, but the point I got to in the Rolling Stone article (Runaway General) said that McChrystal preferred a strategy of counterinsurgency which would mean staying in the country to rebuild and support and blah blah blah for years and maybe even DECADES. What happened to that short war we were promised? What happened to taking care of business at home? If we're going to babysit other countries' governments, why aren't we concerned about what's going on in Sudan and some of those places? What happened to choosing your battles and using your resources wisely?
ReplyDeleteSounds like you have been listening. I wonder why no one else gets it? MUD
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