• Please take a moment and update your account profile. If you have an updated account profile with basic information on why you are on Air Warriors it will help other people respond to your posts. How do you update your profile you ask?

    Go here:

    Edit Account Details and Profile

Gen. Stanley McChrystal: on the job market soon ... ???

Recovering LSO

Recovering LSO

Suck Less
pilot
Contributor
129 Paddles said:
, I'm not sure how he keeps his job now that this stuff is out. REGARDLESS of party, it is rare for an administration to keep someone in his position after open dissent (open or implied through aides).
Click to expand...

I've changed my mind a bit. I'm thinking he doesn't get fired. I'm thinking he keeps his job... Firing the last two Gen's running his inherited war doesn't play well for the president's stated 2011 withdraw timeline.

On the other hand, there might be some new aide/staff jobs opening up...
 
A4sForever

A4sForever

BTDT OLD GUY
pilot
Contributor
I mean ... this is just crazy. First the General makes the statements (AP link)-- to freakin' ROLLING STONE magazine (!!!) -- and then he sez he used 'poor judgment' ... and apologizes.

Am I going insane?? Is this Alice in Wonderland, or is this the U.S. in Afghanistan ??? I'm not certain I can tell the difference anymore ...

I think it's time to come home, boys -- 'cause the wheels seem to be coming off the train and it's leaving the track. Unless, of course, you like practicing bleeding for no discernible purpose ...
 
nittany03

nittany03

Recovering NFO. Herder of Programmers.
pilot
None
Super Moderator
Contributor
Well, one of the things you learn in ROTC/Academy/OCS days is that there are times and places where you need to fall on your sword. Maybe the General thinks he needs to do that to get done what he believes needs to be done. As Winfield S. Hancock said at Gettysburg, "there are times when a corps commander's life does not count." Maybe the General has decided that there are times when a theater commander's career doesn't count.
 
mmx1

mmx1

Woof!
pilot
Contributor
How does this article help McChrystal, though? Yes, it airs some frustration between McChrystal, Eikenberry, and the administration, but on a whole it's more a critique of McChrystal's strategy and of the effort in Afghanistan in general. There's personal animosity and some turf clashing with Eikenberry and Holbrooke, but if you look closely, the article's not asserting any major split strategywise between the administration and McChrystal. The anti-war lefties get their narrative of quagmire and insubordinate military, the angry right gets their narrative of ditch the ROE (which are coming from McChrystal, mind you), but this whole mess is just a distraction for everyone involved.

I'd like to credit McChrystal with brilliance, but it looks like this was just a dumbshit PR deputy (who has since resigned) letting an unvetted reporter get into the inner circle and witness unvarnished banter not meant for public consumption. There are few if any direct interview comments, most of the article is based on overheard banter between the General and his aides and their comments.

I'm supportive of the media, but letting a reporter tag along as you go out and get "shitfaced" just does not seem like a smart play.

The article:
http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/news/17390/119236
 
Fog

Fog

Old RIOs never die: They just can't fast-erect
None
Contributor
McChyrstal/Afghanistan WAFUM, The Gulf Oil Mess, ObamaCare, Recovery Act w/ no recovery, Debt that can never be repaid . . . . I think us [dumb] peasants are starting to figure out this new administration !!
 
E

exhelodrvr

Well-Known Member
pilot
Fog said:
McChyrstal/Afghanistan WAFUM, The Gulf Oil Mess, ObamaCare, Recovery Act w/ no recovery, Debt that can never be repaid . . . . I think us [dumb] peasants are starting to figure out this new administration !!
Click to expand...

I don't think so; mere mortals can't comprehend what goes on on Mount Olympus. Just trust them!!
 
Flash

Flash

SEVAL/ECMO
None
Super Moderator
Contributor
There doesn't seem to be any agenda behind these comments like there were last year. It seems to me that the reporter overheard the General and some aides doing some daily bitching that they didn't intend him or anyone else to hear, maybe a headset left unattended or something. Some if the comments were obviously on record but most don't seem like that, more along the lines of typical sailor/soldier bitching. His very quick and very public mea culpa seem to lend some credence, at least to me, that some of the more biting comments were not meant for wider dissemination.

I think he'll keep his job, to much at stake to fire him right now. Who knows though, you talk trash about the boss and he is liable to get pissed, no matter who you are.
 
Hozer

Hozer

Jobu needs a refill!
None
Contributor
Not gonna get fired, too much at stake like Flash said. If McChrystal is out, then the admin is left holding the bag if things go completely south. At least with McChrystal onboard through endgame, the admin can delegate blame. In fact, they can say they took the high ground leaving an anti-Obama partisan in charge of the effort with vastly differing takes on the war than the administration.
 
A4sForever

A4sForever

BTDT OLD GUY
pilot
Contributor
I don't know whether he'll keep his job, or not ... but:

If the General 'allowed' this to leak/speak to what's in his 'heart' and what he believes is 'best' for the conduct of the war and for the troops -- and politics be damned -- then bully for him. That would be a profile in courage ... something we don't see too often today. Now where DID I put that sword to fall on ... ???

If the General and/or his aides just screwed up (tough to imagine w/ a reporter for R/S hovering in the room - but possible, one supposes) and now try for a mea cupla, a 'temporary insanity' defense -- I cannot see how the politicians and the General and his staff can continue to successfully prosecute the war. The politicians now KNOW, without a hint or scintilla of doubt -- what low regard the military commanders hold for them. All trust and willing cooperation between the two sides is now gone. "Unity of purpose" (to quote Secretary Gates) -- is g-o-n-e.

If you don't think so ... then you're smokin' somethin' you shouldn't be smokin' ...
 
Steve Wilkins

Steve Wilkins

Teaching pigs to dance, one pig at a time.
None
Super Moderator
Contributor
Yeah, I don't see McChrystal losing his job over this. Now, if this wasn't an election year, he'd be toast. I do, however, find it very ironic how quick Obama can meet with someone when he is being criticized.
 
scoolbubba

scoolbubba

Brett327 gargles ballsacks
pilot
Contributor
General McChrystal is saying what everyone's thinking. Whether it will be a wake up call to El Presidente and the administration, or the suicide note for the General's career remains to be seen.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top