Why the general dissed the president

From the point of view of, say, Diana West, Gen. McChrystal’s critical comments about the president and his men to Rolling Stone are of little interest; who cares if the designer of the calamitous COIN strategy in Afghanistan insults his calamitous commander in chief? But West’s point of view does not explain McChrystal’s behavior from McChrystal’s point of view. John at Powerline explains it. The general thinks that his COIN strategy could work, but that Obama has rendered it unworkable by declaring a pullout from Afghanistan for next summer. So the general is very frustrated at being dealt a losing hand, and that frustration came out in the Rolling Stone interview.

By the way, “McChrystal” is a ridiculous name. Also, every time I type it, I have to work to get the spelling right.

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As for why McChrystal did it, the most likely answer is that, feeling that Obama’s arbitrary withdrawal date of summer 2010 puts him in a no-win situation, he did it because he wants to be fired.

Posted by Lawrence Auster at June 23, 2010 01:34 PM | Send