Posted by
flagwaver on Wednesday, June 23, 2010 12:58:39 PM
I am no expert on things military, but I do know this: Gen. McChrystal has to be relieved of duty immediately. I am no fan of the Obama administration, and the attitude of studied indifference to this war by the president and his minions has really rankled me. But what Gen. McChrystal did has to be paid for with his career, because what he did is unconscionable from a military leader. Everything that he and his staff were reported to have said about the administration may well be true, but I know enough about military protocol to know that you never, ever publicly disparage the civilian leadership of the armed forces publicly, no matter how bad you may think they are.
To publicly question the civilian leadership is bad enough, but to ridicule them in print is totally unacceptable. If anything can erode good order and discipline in the armed forces, it has to be a situation such as this. I understand that Gen. McChrystal is a fine soldier and excellent officer in many ways, but he should not be allowed to withstand this gaffe because it goes to the heart of the entire military/civilian power structure. No matter how mush a general disagrees, dislikes, or lacks respect for the president, at the end of the day the president is the Commander in Chief. It is not for the generals to pursue their own policies, but to implement the policies decided upon by the civilian leadership. Our system was set up that way in order keep us from suffering a Roman-like rule by a Praetorian guard.
And Gen. McChrsytal should be let go, nay must be let go to underscore to his fellows that there are no indispensible soldiers...or generals. No one commander is bigger or more important than our Commander in Chief, and by making these statements to a writer from Rolling Stone for public consumption, Gen. McChrystal set himself up as someone who thinks the regular rules of military protocol don't apply to him.
It is a sad day to see such a soldier relieved of duty, especially at the looming outset of a critical campaign this summer, but it has to be done. Soldiers are not required to respect the officers who command them as people, but military order and discipline break down when the respect for the officer's positions are lost. And that applies to the highest generals as well as the lowliest privates.