McCain Did the Same Thing As McChrsytal

NBC ^ | June 27, 2010 | Meet the Press

[MayflowerMadam]

“Now the Gen was totally crazy to trust any reporter.”

Since “the Gen” is a social/politial liberal, voted for Obama, forbade Fox News for his troops, etc., he most likely DID trust the MSM. One more example of questionable discernment. His replacement might actually be a patriot instead of a whiny metrosexual liberal who forced troops to ask, “Mother, may I?” before attacking the enemy. IMHO...

[raybbr]

So the only superior McChrystal had was Obama?

I didn't see ANY quotes from McC other than one about Biden. Did you see more?

[tanknetter]

I think Tom Harkin lost more, actually.

[MozarkDawg]

Re: 15 — Thank you.

[Anitius Severinus Boethius]

I’ll have to read it again to see the direct quotes attributed to him.

[Brown Deer]

I’ll have to read it again to see the direct quotes attributed to him.

Again? You never read it or else you would have already known that there were none.

[mkjessup]

I think Tom Harkin lost more, actually.

No kidding? Well that DOES establish that Harkin and McCain are certainly in the same class, lol

[Cyclone59]

McCrystal is a liberal who voted for OBOZO and probably felt safe with a Rolling Stone reporter.

Very good point!

I was wondering if, perhaps, that McCrystal played this one the only way he could. Let’s assume that if he wanted out of that hell hole - he has 2 options, guit or be removed. If he quits, he is bad and gets dragged through the press in a worse way. If he says something like he did and gets relieved of his duties, obama looks like a hawk (that hurt to say) for 20 seconds and the general doesn’t look so bad. Maybe the general saw pending failure and this was his way of getting out without being made the scapegoat by the administration. We all know how well this administration places blame onto others.

[joe fonebone]

I do not give a crap about the ROE...any general that will allow marines to be slaughtered without giving air or artillery support to them, because of the silly assed ROE, should suffer the same fate as the marines he let die...maybe his consience got the best of him, and he wanted to be fired...he deserved far worse

[anglian]

"His replacement might actually be a patriot instead of a whiny metrosexual liberal."

You do know that the new guy was the old guys boss?

Both being patriots.

[anglian]

"any general that will allow marines to be slaughtered without giving air or artillery support to them,,,"

Got a link to that?

Didn't think so.

[Anitius Severinus Boethius]

At one point on his trip to Paris, McChrystal checks his BlackBerry. "Oh, not another e-mail from Holbrooke," he groans. "I don't even want to open it." He clicks on the message and reads the salutation out loud, then stuffs the BlackBerry back in his pocket, not bothering to conceal his annoyance.

...............................

"I like Karl (Eikenberry), I've known him for years, but they'd never said anything like that to us before," says McChrystal, who adds that he felt "betrayed" by the leak. "Here's one that covers his flank for the history books. Now if we fail, they can say, 'I told you so.' "

Both of these quotes, directly attributed to McChrystal, are problematic. Combined with all of the "Senior Aide" quotes, they show a disdain for the administration, not just in policy, but for particular people in the chain of command.

It's ironic, because it seems the reporter was trying to create a "liberal warrior" out of McChrystal and ended up trashing the administrations strategy in Afghanistan.

[anglian]

McChrystal Stone Rolled http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z3-a3GKyMm0&feature=player_embedded

[anglian]

key graf from the RS story:

The rules handed out here are not what McChrystal intended - they've been distorted as they passed through the chain of command - but knowing that does nothing to lessen the anger of troops on the ground. when I came over here and heard that McChrystal was in charge, I thought we would get our gun on," says Hicks, who has served three tours of combat. "I get COIN. I get all that. McChrystal comes here, explains it, it makes sense. But then he goes away on his bird, and by the time his directives get passed down to us through Big Army, they're all f***** up - either because somebody is trying to cover their ass, or because they just don't understand it themselves."

[anglian]

More on EIKENBERRY - the ANTI-MORALE ambassador to Afghanistan. From a very Sr. Sergeant Major that was serving with him at the time up at Camp Eggers I heard the following “he is considered the anti-morale device on the camp”. What this Sergeant Major was talking about was the fact that whenever “E3″ was around on the camp, nobody laughed, or joked or anything. E3 was known for leading by fear and intimidation rather than respect according to this senior leader I talked to. Whenever E3 was away from the camp, the morale went up considerably among the officers and NCOs that were the primary residents on the camp. It was probably a good thing that we didn’t talk to him, because on his visit to the PRT and our ANA FOB he pretty much yelled at and degraded every US soldier he encountered, to include several O6s. The rule of thumb was; if you had “US” on your name tape then be prepared to be disrespected and screamed at, but if you were Afghan then you could do no wrong. As a result of his visit, the Senior officer (the Brigade Team Chief) on our FOB, an O6 Colonel, his Executive Officer (O5-LT. Colonel) and the Command Sergeant Major of the Brigade were all relieved on the spot. He fired all of them after a 30 minute one way yelling match. Match may not be the right word, because it was one way, from him to them. As you may be able to tell, I am not a big fan of E3 and was not happy to see the President pick him as ambassador to Afghanistan. I mean, he is a good choice for the fact that he has Afghanistan experience. Even though O.J knows a little something about knives I still would not pick him to be a door to door cutlery salesman. http://www.bouhammer.com/2009/04/5-billion-unspent-by-the-anti-morale-device/

[raybbr]

Fair enough. Do either of those quotes remotely represent the backlash McC's gotten?

There is something about this whole episode that bothers me. Conservatives/hawks are over reacting and the libs are only looking at how McC' "offended" Obama. The reaction doesn't jibe with the quotes.

If he had called Obama a bungling fool (which is, of course, the truth) there would be a justified reaction.

Most of the quotes are attributed to aides and soldiers. I really don't get the reaction from the right.

It's ironic, because it seems the reporter was trying to create a "liberal warrior" out of McChrystal and ended up trashing the administrations strategy in Afghanistan.

Yes, I got THAT too. The reporter tried, I think, to make McC look like a bit of a maverick a la McStupid hoping to elevate him in the eyes of the libs but it backfired.

[raybbr]

Yes, I got THAT too. The reporter tried, I think, to make McC look like a bit of a maverick a la McStupid hoping to elevate him in the eyes of the libs but it backfired.

I tried to stop that post.

I meant to say "The reporter tried, I think, to make McC look like a bit of a maverick a la McStupid hoping to elevate him in the eyes of the libs the conservatives because McC has always supported Obama but it backfired.

[Fundamentally Fair]

Was McCain a 4-star commander? Did he do it in front of a reporter?