I don't think so. There are ways to do this much more effectively. This isn't one of them. If he wanted to fall on his sword, he would have asked for a meeting with Obama to voice his concerns, then if he was stone-walled, he would have walked to the microphone set up outside the White House, and told the media everything, on the record and in public.
This isn't that. That would have been devastating to Obama. Now, because of the forum, it's easy to portray McChrystal as conceited, cavalier and sloppy.
I suspect if he's only sleeping four hours a night, he should think about sleeping five.
I guess we’ll have to agree to disagree. Guys don’t get to McChrystal’s level without thinking three or four moves - or more - ahead. He HAD to know the firestorm his comments would cause and that he’d be forced to resign / be fired. But he made them anyway.
The other option is that he is so frustrated with Obama and co. that he agreed to an interview and decided to air it out in Rolling Stone - and allowed his staff to do so as well - in a fit of anger. That just does not add up to me.
Well said ODH...I agree completely. If the general is angling for a way to tell off the CIC...this isn’t the way to do it. I can hear the public appologies beginning any time now.
Sorry to disagree with you...but I think this is exactly what he is doing. I wrote this in another reply but figured you might not see it: I spoke to a retired O-6 about this and he says this is exactly what he is doing. He comes to that conclusion because he says that at a snr leadership conference they had a 4 star give them this very same advice..."If you are going to fall on your sword...do it in such a way there can be no doubt and do it very publicly."
The one thing that is clear is a 4 star general does not make this kind of mistake. Period. Especially not a special ops guy. I'm a 23 yr AF guy but I've been Army support for 22 of those years and did special ops support during OIF. These guys are very calculating. They don't take a dump without a plan...and you can bet that this is part of some plan of his. Is it to fall on his sword, sacrificing himself for his troops? That seems the most logical answer...but it could be something else. The one thing it isn't is a mistake (diarrhea of the mouth).
I agree. I think the General believed his own press clippings. He surrounded himself with sycophants and believed he had earned their admiration and deserved it. He allowed the reporter unheard of access because he believed he and his staff were above criticism or reproach. The reporter revealed the facts, however and exposed the command climate McChrystal had created as undisciplined and corrosive. Obama should have had every officer named in that article in front of his desk with their heels locked asking them if they had anything else they wanted to say.