WhatFinger


I don't understand a President who says he welcomes debate, but tolerates no divisions on his team

Who stood up for General McChrystal?



"...old soldiers never die... they just fade away..." General of the Armies Douglas MacArthur The real, true drama about General McChrystal should revolve around the profound reasons of why there was so much discord between General McChrystal and his staff, and President Obama and his civilian staff. The Rolling Stone Reporter cherry picked that about which he would write.

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I wonder what Obama, Gibbs, Biden, Jones, Holbrooke, Eikenberry, et al., were saying about McChrystal and his officers, and whether the Rolling Stone reporter would have reported it had he been allowed into the White House meetings? We haven't heard that side and likely never will. One point distresses me. I don't understand a President who says he welcomes debate, but tolerates no divisions on his team. One can have no real debate if there are no divisions. I do not believe that leadership is some pinball game where the leader pops around the table and pings against various people until he hits on one and bells start ringing. There is not a limitless supply of Generals capable of leading this mission successfully. You just fired the best one, Mr. President. Good leadership inspires confidence and a leader builds his team on its strengths not its weaknesses. Leaders are builders, not changers. An Officer's Commissioning Oath is an oath to protect and defend the Constitution of the United States of America from all enemies, Foreign and Domestic, to bear true allegiance to that Constitution and to obey the Lawful Orders of those appointed over us. A man or woman officer does not become a Commissioned Officer in order to curry favor with high ranking Elected Officials, Civilian Bureaucrats, State Department Diplomats, or insolent White House Press Secretaries. It's too bad. A lowly reporter for "The Rolling Stone" allowed into the General's Headquarters did something that the Taliban could not do: take down General McChrystal and set back US Operations in Afghanistan. "Et tu, Rolling Stone!" This all could have been handled differently, and better. When a President summarily fires a Four Star Commander, I believe he had better do it for better reasons than locker-room trash talk. I am certain that there are a some of my West Point brethren who would disagree, but I think this is a bone-headed move. I do not think any of this business rises to a legal definition of insubordination: Willful failure to obey a supervisor's lawful orders. President Obama has chosen to replace General McChrystal with General David Petraeus. Petraeus, one of the few officers senior to McChrystal, might indicate the strength, and mission loyalty that McChrystal's subordinates and other officers have for this man. General Petraeus is probably the only man able to step in and receive full trust and confidence of that fighting force from the get-go. Long ago and far away, General George Patton slapped a coward for malingering in a Field Hospital tent during WWII. General Eisenhower did not relieve Patton from Combat Command because both General Eisenhower and FDR realized how valuable General Patton was to the war effort. FDR wisely allowed Eisenhower to dispose of this matter. General McChrystal resigned in lieu of relief for "verbally" slapping at folks [other than the President] who failed, to his way of thinking, of supporting his operations. I wonder why President Obama did not give General McChrystal's superior officer, General Petraeus, the same leeway in handling this situation as FDR did Eisenhower? I wonder who, if anyone, stood up for General McChrystal? Or, did he stand alone? Perhaps this video will help us understand the context of it all. It is a CBS News profile segment from 2009 that shows what kind of stuff our American soldiers are made of. This Lieutenant from the 506th infantry Regiment [Currahees] represents the crème de la crème of America. Our Armed Forces are filled, incredibly, with such men and women. These are the kind of soldiers every officer dreams of one day having the honor to command. These are the folks I think McChrystal was fighting for. Take two more minutes and be inspired. And take off the rose colored glasses: Critical thinking is mandatory.


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William R. Mann -- Bio and Archives

William R. Mann, is a retired Lt. Colonel, US Army. He is a now a political observer, analyst, activist and writer for Conservative causes. He was educated at West Point [Bachelor of Science, 1971 ]and the Naval Postgraduate School [Masters, National Security Affairs, 1982].


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