Gen. Stanley McChrystal coming to Washington to explain anti-administration comments

[Trumplestiltskin 5,791]

To be honest I don't see why there should be this requirement for the general to "like" the president. After all, the guy is there because he (supposedly) knows what he's doing militarily. Surely that is more important than bruised egos.

Why is there this cult of personality thing around American Presidents? The way this story is being played you'd think the guy had committed blasphemy.

Totally silly.

[Usui Takumi 1,562]

To be honest I don't see why there should be this requirement for the general to "like" the president. After all, the guy is there because he (supposedly) knows what he's doing militarily. Surely that is more important than bruised egos.

Why is there this cult of personality thing around American Presidents? The way this story is being played you'd think the guy had committed blasphemy.

Totally silly.

Its because the President falls directly into the chain of command. Its no different then bad mouthing your CO.

[I AM NOT THAT GUY 5,715]

Right on! Military candor! Gotta love it! I know my sergeants wouldn't give me a break when they thought I was f#cking sh!t up, but when I came to a decision, whether they liked, or not, they made sure the troops got their @sses down the road, and doing what I wanted done.

[I AM NOT THAT GUY 5,715]

To be honest I don't see why there should be this requirement for the general to "like" the president. After all, the guy is there because he (supposedly) knows what he's doing militarily. Surely that is more important than bruised egos.

Why is there this cult of personality thing around American Presidents? The way this story is being played you'd think the guy had committed blasphemy.

Totally silly.

[Trumplestiltskin 5,791]

Its because the President falls directly into the chain of command. Its no different then bad mouthing your CO.

I'm sure that's the reasoning that is being used. I'd rather people spent less time obsessing over the appearance of things.

[Usui Takumi 1,562]

I'm sure that's the reasoning that is being used. I'd rather people spent less time obsessing over the appearance of things.

Well like I said this isn't the first incident he's been in. He also covered up a friendly fire incident and made it look like an enemy attack. Its hard me to trust someone who is like that.

Edited June 22, 2010 by Sousuke

[I AM NOT THAT GUY 5,715]

The military likes folks that push the envelope. Those are the folks that soar to new heights, and then crash spectacularly. Think of Patton, of Mac Arthur, of Grant.

[DEDixon 39]

i'm not sure the general made a "mistake." the general isn't new to politics and most definitely knows he is to respect his chain of command yet he blabs to a the media? speaking frankly among friends is one thing, but the media? the general wants to run for president!

[Usui Takumi 1,562]

The military likes folks that push the envelope. Those are the folks that soar to new heights, and then crash spectacularly. Think of Patton, of Mac Arthur, of Grant.

Grant was president...can't go much higher.

[I AM NOT THAT GUY 5,715]

Mac Arthur wanted to be President. So was Eisenhower. One was a prima donna. The other was diplomat.

[slim 1,519]

I read that Obama would weigh whether the general was more of an asset or liability before making his decision. What a politician!

[Pinocchio Liberal 268]

Yeah, that Harvard degree is paying off in spades heh?

[alienlovechild 75]

Well like I said this isn't the first incident he's been in. He also covered up a friendly fire incident and made it look like an enemy attack. Its hard me to trust someone who is like that.

Frankly, the friendly fire death of Tillman 9 years ago is irrelevant to me as nobody seems to give a damn about the 999 other KIA and counting. Think he was the friendly fire soldier to die a "hero"?

McChrystal was an avowed Obama supporter who got disenchanted when he realized the administration was serious about a troop surge with a arbritary time limit that had little to do with the military situation in Afghanistan and a lot to do with Obama wanting move ahead with his primary interests in domestic policy.

This whole seems to fit an administration that took months to back a surge/timetable strategy while spending more time on other issues than putting the Taliban back in the box.

McChrystal's policy of reducing civilian deaths might may off in the long run but they may be out of time anyway as soldiers have to deal with more restrictive ROEs made in Washington or Kabul.

[spookyturtle 9,465]

Yeah, but let's be honest. The LAST PERSON we need running our military is someone like Obama. Someone who has zero service experience and understands nothing about day to day operations....

If I were in McChrystal's shoes and those with him and had some amateur punk dictating what I'm to do, I'd be saying those things as well.

We need someone like Bush.

[Pinocchio Liberal 268]

We need someone like Bush.

Glad to see you say we need someone other than the pretender we have now.