I’m not a military man, but I have to say I am not impressed with the strategies of either the president or the general, but if the general says he needs resources we should give them or get out.
What does Obama know about military issues let alone the continuity of American policy?
The great Anti American is bitter.... screw him.
I'm not an Obama man, in fact I can't think of a major policy he is attempting to iniate that I agree with. Having said that, I do think that McChrystal broke ranks with tradition by going public with his speech in London, stating he needs 40,000 additional troops. The correct thing for a top level general such as McChrystal to do would be to speak privately to his military leadership and/or Obama about his need for more troops. Then, if his superiors (JCS/POTUS)should not agree with him, then he has a choice, button his lip and do as ordered or resign his commission and become a civilian after which he can speak publicly to his hearts content. For better or worse, American tradition has been that the civilian executive branch has always set our military objectives and strategery. Possibly, the most obvious incident of this tradition being teste was MacArthur's challenge of Truman's management of the Korean war and his attempt to by-pass Truman by writing a letter to the Speaker of the House for permission to invade Manchuria. Consequently,as most of us know, Truman fired MacArthur for making “unauthorized policy statements”. Many Korean War vet's were on Mac's side, including my own father, but MacArthur, who had an ego about the size of Jupiter was totally out of line and the firing was necessary.