Posted on 06/26/2010 11:15:17 AM PDT by OldDeckHand
It was 2:30 Tuesday morning in Kabul, after a busy day of travel to Kandahar and meetings with top Afghan officials, when Gen. Stanley A. McChrystal was awakened by an aide with grim news.
"There's a Rolling Stone article out," the aide told McChrystal. "It's very, very bad."
Forty hours later, McChrystal had been relieved of his command, his 34-year military career in tatters. Apart from a terse apology, McChrystal has not discussed publicly the disparaging remarks that he and his aides made about administration officials and that appeared in the article.
On Friday, however, officials close to McChrystal began trying to salvage his reputation by asserting that the author, Michael Hastings, quoted the general and his staff in conversations that he was allowed to witness but not report. The officials also challenged a statement by Rolling Stone's executive editor that the magazine had thoroughly reviewed the story with McChrystal's staff ahead of publication.
The executive editor, Eric Bates, denied that Hastings violated any ground rules when he wrote about the four weeks he spent, on and off, with McChrystal and his team. "A lot of things were said off the record that we didn't use," Bates said in an interview. "We abided by all the ground rules in every instance."
A senior military official insisted that "many of the sessions were off-the-record and intended to give [Hastings] a sense" of how the team operated. The command's own review of events, said the official, who was unwilling to speak on the record, found "no evidence to suggest" that any of the "salacious political quotes" in the article were made in situations in which ground rules permitted Hastings to use the material in his story.
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonpost.com ...
McChrystal wanted to be cool and hip as is the case with many people who are left for no apparent reason. In his mind he was a lefty, voted for Obama, banned FNC from his HQ etc and so he was sure the lefty Rolling Stone reporter would be his friend. Fool!
He voted for Obama. That tells you a lot.
If as you claim Petraeus gets undermined by Obama, then it will be no ones fault but his own.
If Petraeus is refused permission to wage the war in a way he believes is the most advantages to us and detrimental to the enemy, then the honorable thing to do would be to ask for reassignment and if refused to simply resign his commission and go public with the explanation.
A commander who allows his mission to be politicized to the extent his troops are endangered has no business being a commander to begin with and my guess is Petraeus will not stand for it.
McChrystal voted for Obama. He was Obama’s pick to run the war. The Rolling Stone crowd is Obama’s young base. Obama and McChrystal thought that by bringing RS in they could get favorable coverage and win the RS crowd’s endorsement of the war.
It’s that simple.
Before Obama announced his presidential candidacy, he was quoted as saying that he thought he could restore “Cool” to the Oval Office. Obama wants to be a Rock Star not a President.
Lib vs Lib?
Kinda makes me smile when Libs treat each other the way they treat me....
“He voted for Obama.”
Lie down with dogs, get up with fleas.
Real officers can’t vote for Liberals because Liberalism is antithetical to the Constitution - and, can’t be reconciled with the Constitution.
Stupid Progressives. McChrystal knew exactly what he was doing. He got out from under Obama’s insane “courageous restraint” treason. He’ll retire and write a book barbequing Obozo in time for 2012.
Who suggested the Rolling Stone Mag reporter visit. I bet it wasn’t McChrystal. Someone deliberately set out to undermine The US, and McChrystal in Afghanistan.
Mc was mugged.
In tatters? Hardly. 1/4 of Americans (leftists) appreciate that he told the truth about how hopeless things are there. 1/4 of Americans (rightists) are happy that he told the truth about how lame Obama and his cohorts are as military leaders. 1/4 of Americans think it was inappropriate to say such things to a reporter. 1/4 still don't know who McChrystal is.
He can now write a tell-all book and is guaranteed of at least a $1 million payday for that, plus a year on the rubber-chicken circuit.
The same people saying his career is in tatters were saying Palin's political career was over whe she resigned from being Gov. of Alaska.
He has been relieved of command, not dismissed from the service. He's home with his wife and kids, he's a celebrity, he's a hero to many, he's an intriguing figure that many want to know more about. He's a 32 year veteran with a 3 star general's grade. He can retire, with full pension, anytime he wants.
It is Obama who screwed the pooch! He has to figure out how to fight a super-complicated counter-insurgency war without the #1 expert in fighting counter-insurgency in the US Army. If McKrystal sticks around, who knows, Palin might give him back Afghanistan in a few years.
General McChrystal is my hero.
His men were dying because of ROE.
The intermixing of articles about Puff Daddy, Lady Gaga and other worthless pop trash of the era is only porvided so that the old guys can appear semi-hip.
I am sure Al Gore never misses an issue.
I just can’t believe that he’s as big of a lib as everyone says. Liberal infantry officers are literally one in a hundred, and they usually don’t last long.
General McChrystal was commander of special forces, he knows more ways to fight and kill an enemy than Zero will ever know.
I read the article and saw him interviewed by Larry King. He did not strike me as an America hater. He struck me as a quiet, serious, almost nerdy reporter type. RS has published some good writers over the years, not all of whom are leftist hacks.
In fact Matt Taibi's articles on Goldman-Sachs were excellent (except for the use of bathroom language, which is classless)
Ping
Obama's running mate in 2012?
Makes you wonder how many more top level people surrounding this idiot think the same way.
|
He’s not anti-American and he is a patriot that has served our country well. He’s just not too bright. He is a liberal, he voted for the moron in chief, then the moron in chief throws a fit and shows him the door. Next time maybe he will vote for someone that is at least sane.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.