Not an odd read. If you recall general officers like Powell you have the type.
General officers like Powell learned the game in a different set of circumstances. When it came down to being a soldier, he deferred to his instinct to be a political general first and foremost, then to pander to whatever side he thought looked the best in the long run. Powell as I understand it also played the race card to get his way.
McChrystal is a different animal, and your assessment of his “ability” to win over any reporter tells me that he had a staff guy whispering in his ear that he could do no wrong. In effect, he started to believe his own press.
In my experience, general officers who do not do a self analysis ever so often tend to believe that they are as great and monumental as their staff officers tell them they are.
The Romans employed people to tell the generals as they paraded their war prizes that “All glory is fleeting”, and so it is true.
On the positive side, if the stuff really hits the fan, history tells us that men will rise to the occasion, not men like McChrystal, not men like Powell, not men like Shinseki, but men like Patton.
Just my take.
Regards,
AR
I don’t see things hitting the fan to extent that a president would be forced to choose a Grant or a Patton today. Too many rough edges. Smoking cigars, drinking whiskey and slapping soldiers? Not in today’s PC Army. Those guys are removed long before Colonel today.