Why So Surprised At This McChrystal Guy?

Did you really expect professionalism and respect from an Obama appointee?

Obama picked him to be the head of Afghanistan forces. The guy, admittedly, voted Democrat. He is currently the Commander, International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) and Commander, U.S. Forces Afghanistan (USFOR-A). Him being a war time General is like making Ronald McDonald the CEO of that hamburger outfit. Their big titles doesn’t stop them from both being a couple of clowns.

* Only Obama would pick a US General so openly defiant of the Constitutional process that requires civilians being in charge of the U.S. military.

“It is hard to believe that President Obama and his staff will be able to continue to work with McChrystal after the revelation of the Rolling Stone affair. President Obama will have to defend his commander-in-chief powers under Article II of the Constitution and that will almost certainly require McChrystal’s swift retirement. To allow McChrystal to apologize and stay on would set a bad precedent, send the wrong signal regarding civil-military relations to the rest of the military, and would cause great uproar among Obama’s civilian staff.” - McChrystal will get a red card

* Only Obama would pick a US General to have such strict rules of engagement that the General’s own soldiers are quietly critical of him.

“The [Rolling Stones] magazine story shows that McChrystal is also facing criticism from some of his own troops, who have grown frustrated with new rules that force commanders be extraordinarily judicious in using lethal force. A few weeks ago, according to the magazine, the general traveled to a small outpost in Kandahar province, in southern Afghanistan, to meet with a unit of soldiers reeling from the loss of a comrade, 23-year-old Cpl. Michael Ingram. The corporal was killed in a booby-trapped house that some of the unit’s commanders had unsuccessfully sought permission to blow up. One soldier at the outpost showed Hastings, who was traveling with the general, a written directive instructing troops to ‘patrol only in areas that you are reasonably certain that you will not have to defend yourself with lethal force.’ During a tense meeting with Ingram’s platoon, one sergeant tells McChrystal: ‘Sir, some of the guys here, sir, think we’re losing, sir.’“ – Gen. Stanley McChrystal coming to Washington to explain anti-administration comments

“Receiving mortar fire during an overnight mission, his unit called for a 155mm howitzer illumination round to be fired to reveal the enemy’s location. The request was rejected ‘on the grounds that it may cause collateral damage.’ The NCO says that the only thing that comes down from an illumination round is a canister, and the likelihood of it hitting someone or something was akin to that of being struck by lightning.” – An NCO recognizes a flawed Afghanistan strategy

“But the bigger problem with McChrystal’s leadership has always been the general’s devotion to unreasonably restrictive rules of engagement that are resulting in the unnecessary deaths of American and coalition forces.” – McChrystal’s real offense

* Only Obama would pick a US General who was one of eight officers recommended for discipline by a Pentagon investigation regarding his [McChrystal's] role in the cover up of the death by friendly fire of Ranger and former professional football player Pat Tillman.

“The man chosen by Barack Obama to lead the war in Afghanistan also helped cover up the friendly-fire death of NFL player turned soldier Pat Tillman, writes Jon Krakauer. He administered a fraudulent medal recommendation to keep the public in the dark. So why isn’t anybody talking about it?” – Gen. McChrystal’s Credibility Problem

If you’ve been a follower of this blog you know that I’m one of Obama’s harshest critics. But the Constitution is the Constitution of the United States and it clearly calls for a chain of command and inherent within that process is respect for the civilian authorities that run our military forces.

“Obama is a deeply flawed commander-in-chief who doesn’t want to be fighting a war on terror, but he is the commander-in-chief. He should have a general who will carry out his policies without public complaint until the voters can decide to change those policies.” – McChrystal’s real offense

Thank God our Constitution was set up that way via the wisdom of the Founding Fathers. Otherwise, we would have already have had several bad coups, like a banana republic, if the authority over the military did not rest in civilian hands, but in military hands.

Barack Obama is the socialist-in-chief. But like it or not, he is the Commander-In-Chief and the military, absent a Constitutionally questionable command, must and should obey that man and show the civilians in the chain of command some respect.

And Obama’s hand-picked General didn’t do that and he’s gotta go.

Now if only we could fire Obama that easily!

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   senjohnh says:

   June 23, 2010 at 11:39 pm

   I WAS A SUPPORTER ON GEN McCHRYSTAL UNTIL I READ YOUR BLOG..NO MORE..GLAD HE’S GONE..SAYONARA..

   SENJOHNH

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