Posted on 10/10/2009 9:25:31 AM PDT by Saije
Coming from Robert Gates—the epitome of the soft-spoken, buttoned-down public servant—the rebuke was particularly striking. Military officers, Gates said last week, should give their advice to America's civilian leadership "candidly but privately," an allusion to... McChrystal's remarks in London about the need for counterinsurgency, not counterterror, in Afghanistan. Less noted was the fact that Gates included civilians in his admonition, a broader criticism of all leaks. But the general's comments, which came in a question-and-answer session after a speech to the International Institute for Strategic Studies, are the ones that have roiled Washington and the foreign-policy establishment, producing a head-snapping conversation in which conservatives are cheering the suggestion of dissent within the ranks and liberals are going on about how military officers should shut up and salute. Consistency, though, has never been an especially widespread partisan virtue.
The McChrystal incident raises an interesting question: if commanders cannot speak their minds in such a forum—and the general was the very model of reason and grace—then what are the rules for commanders to engage in public debate? Many liberals have suddenly discovered Article II of the Constitution, arguing that civilian control of the military means soldiers should not express their views outside the chain of command...I suspect the left would be taking a very different view ...if the general were arguing a position with which it agreed.
The issue is complicated, but then most issues of significance are...At least the general in whose hands lie the lives of thousands of soldiers and in whose success may lie our own national security chose to be clear now, in real time, when it matters, rather than waiting for a book contract. He has told us what he thinks when it can make a difference, and for that we should be grateful.
(Excerpt) Read more at newsweek.com ...
Reports have it that the general thought that the 40,000 he asked for is the “minimum”, that he asked for 50,000 or 60,000. That would explain his answer. After all, the President had committed to a specific mission. Obama just doesn’t like the price tag.
My concern isn’t about any particular comment, but rather about the general idea (pardon the pun) that can undermine the chain of command. I also don’t want generals used as pawns by politicians, as the Dems tried to do with General Patraeus. They can always hold a private Q&A if they need to. Generals should give their opinions to their commanders, and let the civilians speak publicly about them. If a general truly believes he is being put in an impossible situation, he should resign and speak out about it.
Or write a tell all book!
Ironically the general was defending the policy of his CINC when he made this remark. How did he know that the President hadn’t a clue about the consequences of his announced policy? Every since the first of August the White House has been consumed with trying to get this health care thing through. Then all of a sudden they got jerked back to dealing with the situation on the ground.
Aburd for the Left, who made cult figures of any retired General from Clark to Shakeszili who spoke ill of Bush for the last 8 years to whine about this now
Once they retire it will be too late for hundreds of dead American Warriors.
If it’s that serious, there’s nothing to stop a general from handing in his resignation and speaking out the next day. In fact is would lend credence to his criticism.
The generals took Obama at his word. He stated his policy back in the spring and appointed MacChrystal to devise a plan of action. But the President has changed his mind, or never meant what he said. If he goes ahead with fewer men, it will be like suiting up only 11 men for a football game. They may still win, but everything has to go right, and in war they seldom do.
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