Afghanistan Combatant Commander

[Electric Eye]

Rolling Stone is such a tool.

The “firing” of Four Star General Stanley McChrystal is widely reported that he and/or his subordinates made many inappropriate remarks towards or against the administration and the flunkies on Capitol Hill. Vice-President Joe “Bite Me”? C’mon, they made fun of Vice President Dan Quayle for years; Joe Biden is a freaking train wreck.

Anyway, ya’ll know that when your boss is an incompetent, incapable, miserable jerk and that you don’t want to work for the slob, you just want to quit. But, if you quit, you forfeit all benefits. However, if you get fired, you can draw unemployment benefits that continue to grow and increase the federal deficit.

The same applies to General McChrystal. He could have stood up and said that those for whom he works are clueless fools and submitted his resignation, but he’d then be viewed in history as a General that quit during a significant conflict. However, by allowing Rolling Stone to print a “devastating expose” in which he or his subordinates make disparaging remarks about the clones in Washington and then allowing the Washington goons and the sycophant media express their indignation and outrage for being exposed as the worthless oxygen thieves that they really are, General McChrystal gets to retire with the knowledge that he didn’t quit, but that poorly placed stuffed shirts “forced” him to retire. He no longer works for a tool, he gets to enjoy his retirement, and he will historically be compared to General McArthur as a Wartime General that was “fired” by a President.

It was intentional, and Rolling Stone was the dupe.

 

[Marauder06]

...

It was intentional, and Rolling Stone was the dupe.

I have heard this argument before, and it is reasonable, but I don't think it's accurate.

While going out the way he did allowed GEN McChrystal to get out of the war and to retain his fourth start (which I'm assuming he wouldn't have been allowed to do had he just quit), I don't think what happened was intentional. A lot of very senior officers engage the media as part of their overall strategic mindset. Sometimes it works, sometimes there are disastrous consequences like what happened with GEN McChrystal and with the commander of SOCOM a few years back.

Moreover, I just don't see GEN McChrystal wanting to go out the way he did. Getting relieved in a time of war is a humiliating experience. There are many other ways he would have extricated himself from that position had he wanted to, that wouldn't have put himself or more importantly his troops and the war effort in Afghanistan through this type of experience.

I have an enormous amount of respect for GEN McChrystal and would be very disappointed if he were ever to come out and say "yeah I did it on purpose just so I'd be able to get out of Afghanistan."

 

[Scotth]

I have heard this argument before, and it is reasonable, but I don't think it's accurate.

While going out the way he did allowed GEN McChrystal to get out of the war and to retain his fourth start (which I'm assuming he wouldn't have been allowed to do had he just quit), I don't think what happened was intentional. A lot of very senior officers engage the media as part of their overall strategic mindset. Sometimes it works, sometimes there are disastrous consequences like what happened with GEN McChrystal and with the commander of SOCOM a few years back.

Moreover, I just don't see GEN McChrystal wanting to go out the way he did. Getting relieved in a time of war is a humiliating experience. There are many other ways he would have extricated himself from that position had he wanted to, that wouldn't have put himself or more importantly his troops and the war effort in Afghanistan through this type of experience.

I have an enormous amount of respect for GEN McChrystal and would be very disappointed if he were ever to come out and say "yeah I did it on purpose just so I'd be able to get out of Afghanistan."

Absolutely the same way I see the issues. There are many ways to resign/retire that doesn't involve getting relieved of command. Plus the worse of the comments came from his staff for which he took responsibility for there actions. I think the biggest mistake was the length and amount of access they gave the guy. I think the reporter was there so long and hung out with the leadership outside the work place that he became just one of the "boys".

People in the military and the civilian world always talk shit about there incompetant bosses. These guys made the mistake of doing it infront of a reporter.