INTERESTING TAKE ON MCCHRYSTAL RETIREMENT

The General and the Community Organizer

by Paul R. Hollrah
June 24, 2010

Channel-surfing from ABC, CBS, NBC, and CNN through MSNBC and Fox News, the inside-the-beltway pundits had a field day trying to get inside the heads of Barack Obama, Joe Biden, General Stanley McChrystal, and McChrystal's top aides. The one thing common to all of the analyses, by the most famous and highly-paid talking heads in the Western World, was that they are all wrong. dead wrong. What is certain is that they all owe General McChrystal and his senior aides an apology for assuming that they are lame-brained numbskulls. The facts of the McChrystal case are not in dispute. General McChrystal and his senior officers allowed a reporter for Rolling Stone Magazine, Michael Hastings, to have almost unprecedented access during an extended stay in Paris. The extended stay was due, in part, to an excess of atmospheric ash from Iceland's Eyjafjallajokull volcano, keeping the McChrystal party grounded for days.

In an interview with CNN, Hastings reported that he had a tape recorder in his hand most of the time and that McChrystal was "very aware" that his comments would find their way into print. He said, "McChrystal and his people set no ground rules for their conversations, although they did ask that some parts of their conversations were off the record." Hastings subsequently published a lengthy profile of General McChrystal on June 22, titled, The Runaway General.

As Hastings wrote in his profile, McChrystal thought that Obama looked "uncomfortable and intimidated" by the roomful of military brass during their first meeting. Of their second meeting, an advisor to McChrystal quoted the general as saying that it was "a 10-minute photo op." He went on to say, "Obama clearly didn't know anything about (McChrystal), who he was. Here's the guy who's going to run his f_ _ _ing war, but he didn't seem very engaged. The Boss was pretty disappointed."

As General McChrystal flew from Afghanistan to Washington to face Obama in the Oval Office, the almost unanimous opinion of the talking heads was that the comments made by McChrystal and his staff were off the cuff and inadvertent. But to believe that is to totally ignore who these men are.

General McChrystal and his top officers are not simple-minded, knuckle-dragging brutes. To the contrary, they are intelligent, thoughtful, highly educated, patriots. graduates of West Point and other fine universities. who are dedicated to duty, honor, and country. To think that such men would be so careless as to speak unflatteringly of Obama, Biden, and other top administration figures, in the presence of a reporter for a notoriously left wing publication, defies logic. at the very least. To think that men who are trained to be careful and deliberate in everything they do, could do something so careless and so unguarded is simply beyond comprehension.

I would argue that McChrystal and his aides knew exactly what they were doing.

From the day that he became the handpicked "spear carrier" for Obama's unique brand of warfare. playing at being Commander in Chief while playing to his far left constituency. McChrystal's life had been one of constant frustration. After telling Obama exactly how many troops he needed to carry out his mission, Obama dithered for months before deciding to give him just half the troops he requested.
McChrystal could not have been happy about that.

The Obama team insisted on new Rules of Engagement designed to reduce collateral damage (civilian casualties). Obama's ROE required that U.S. troops must be able to see the enemy with weapon in hand before they were allowed to return fire. One videotape circulated on the Internet showed a platoon of Marines pinned down by enemy sniper fire. But since the enemy was firing from some distance behind the open window of a building, the Marines could not actually see the weapon being fired. Although they were taking deadly fire, they were prohibited by the ROE from putting small arms fire or an RPG through the window opening.

Under Obama's politically correct ROE, our soldiers and Marines were required to fight with one hand tied behind their backs. McChrystal could not have been happy about that.

A strict new interrogation policy, dictated by Attorney General Eric Holder, required that prisoners must be delivered to an Interrogation Center within twenty-four hours of being captured or be released. A great deal of actionable intelligence was lost as a result and battle-hardened enemy fighters were returned to the field to kill Americans. McChrystal must have found that to be incomprehensible.

But the greatest insult to our troops in the field, and to the officers who lead them, may be a new battlefield medal designed by the Obama team. It is called the Courageous Restraint Medal and is awarded to soldiers and Marines who demonstrate uncommon restrain in combat by not firing their weapons even when they feel threatened by the enemy. Would we be surprised to learn that the preponderance of these medals were awarded posthumously? McChrystal must have found that to be an insanity.

I suggest that, having his best military judgments subjected to the White House political sieve for nearly a year and a half, McChrystal decided that he'd had enough. And when he announced to his senior staff that he was prepared to retire they decided to push back. to make the most of a bad situation. It was clear that, if McChrystal were to simply take off his uniform and walk away, his retirement would be page-twenty news for a day or two before the mainstream media and the American people forgot all about him.

They had to make the most of his retirement because it provided a one-time opportunity to show the American people, as well as our enemies and our allies, that the man who claims the title of Commander in Chief of the U.S. military does not command the respect of our men and women in uniform. To make the most of that opportunity they had to choose their messenger very carefully.

They knew that, by openly showing their disrespect for Obama in front of just any newsman, they may not attract the attention they desired. Like any astute observer of the MSM, they knew that most reporters would turn on their own mothers if it meant a good story. But they could not take a chance that a mainstream media reporter might suffer a rare pang of conscience when confronted with the prospect of ruining the careers of some of the most senior officers in the War on Terror. They had to fix the odds as much as possible in their favor so they chose to use Michael Hastings and Rolling Stone Magazine.

During the long hours that General McChrystal was in the air between Kabul and Washington, Obama knew that he had just two choices. both bad. He could declare McChrystal to be an irreplaceable asset in the war effort, give him a public reprimand, and send him back to Kabul. Or he could fire McChrystal, sending a clear message that, at least in his own mind, he was the Commander in Chief.

In the former case, he was certain to appear weak and ineffectual. a man not totally in charge. In the latter case, he might at least win a few rave reviews from the Kool-Ade drinkers in the mainstream media. He chose the latter of the two options.

But what is now lost in all of the hand-wringing and speculation is the fact that McChrystal and his people have succeeded in doing exactly what they set out to do. They wanted to plant the seed in the minds of the American people that Obama is not up to the task of being Commander in Chief and that he does not command the respect of the men and women of the uniformed services. from the newest Private E-1 up to the top four-star generals and admirals.

That seed is now firmly planted and it cannot be unplanted.

From this day forward, no one will have to tell the American people that Stanley McChrystal is a true warrior, a man's man, and that Barack Obama is nothing more than a. community organizer. Well done, General!

 

I think the article pretty much says what we already know. That Obama is absolutely clueless, inept, and hasn't got the experience to run a gas station let alone the largest and most complex government in the world. He has loser written all over him along with that mouth to whom he is married. I find it hard to believe that there are idiots out there didn't take her comments about being ashamed of living in the USA to heart. But he did garner a lot of the votes which means folks, there are millions out there not capable of making a rational decision. We can only hope that this moron doesn't do anymore damage than he already has to this nation. It's going to take years/decades to undo the current damage.
Then again, McChrystal may also have political aspirations and felt the timing was right. I guess we'll see if he actually has those aspirations if we see him on the campaign trail. Maybe that's what this country needs again, another military general at the helm. Frankly, if the Republicans are going to field a "new" face for this next Presidential election, they better start showing him soon. My personal choice would be Colin Powell, but the Republicans/Bush burned him pretty bad.

 

Good read.

I still can not say the BO "Fired" SM. Mainly because you can't rape the willing.

I am sad to report, I would never be capable of earning that medal.

Keep praying for OUR troops!

 

He turned his back on the Republicans as well.

 

Haven't read or heard any news from Powell in a while. I'm sure he regrets his support to Obama......much like many other gullible America voters.

 

I stand by the General 100%

Obama is a flipping idiot that knows NOTHING I repeat NOTHING about war. Because he has never served a day. There for you listen to your Generals who have years apon years of Military experience. And when they say he is going about it the wrong way he probably is.....

I mean Obama never asked the general public how they thought about the Generals comments did he? Nope because im whilling to bet 80% of the public and 95% of the Military personnel would agree that he is in fact going about it the wrong way.

But nope he got his feelings hurt in a big boy situation that he knows nothing about, so in turn wastes days that could have been used to fix the oil spill into days to accept the Generals resignation.

But its not the Obamanation's way to listen to what American's have to say. For example. Socialized health care........(great idea btw *roll eyes*) And most currently the oil spill...(its stopped right? oh wait nope its not. Finger pointing ensues in the oval office to this minute)

 

I stand by my previous comment in a different thread!

God bless Stanley McCrystal!

 

I brought this up to a few friends the other day, and they pointed out that everyone knows this. I said, "Yes; but, now we're talking about it... All of us."

 

McChrystal voted for Obama.

 

The article is a work of fiction created to arose those who would be so inclined. I can accept an opinion or honest mistakes but, getting lied to is insulting.

Crap.
Crap piled upon crap.

 

Which casts doubt on the entire hero thing... Maybe he's just a disgruntled employee taking a jab at the boss on his way out, and only an incidental hero.


'Can't give the guy too much credit with a stain like that on his intellect.

 

Who wouldn't give support to the guy giving you the job at the time it's given? Months later when the boss bends you over and cuffs your wrists to your ankles you're gonna squawl! McChystal knew he was in an unwinnable war and he had two choices, ride it out and get the blame put on him or let the world know what he REALLY thought of the situation. He became a general because he could think two steps ahead and he knew exactly what he was doing. Props to him for doing it.

 

http://www.snopes.com/politics/military/restraint.asp

http://www.strategypage.com/htmw/htmoral/20100510.aspx


True Raoul, but it's not a made up concept. It has been tabled and rejected as recently as May. Though it is ROE to exercise "courageous restraint" in Afghanistan, regardless of the lack of a medal for doing so. Loss of American soldiers to this policy isn't hard to envision. I'm thinking the writer may have made a mistake, rather than lied outright.

 

What part of "the preponderance of these medals were awarded posthumously" did not offend you?

Did a search on Hollrah, no mistake. Just playing people.

 

What part of "Would we be surprised to learn that..." did you think I wouldn't notice went before that?