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).
But not in Rolling Stone magazine. Serious men with serious disagreements with command speak to serious journalists. You're not going to find serious journalists at Rolling Stone.
Moreover, what substantive policy disagreements can you find in that article? None, nada, zip, zero, zilch. Instead, McChrystal criticizes personalities. How about a critique of the rules of engagement, or the inability to engage enemy forces wherever they are or whenever they are found? No such criticisms come from McChrystal.
McChrystal may be a soldier's soldier and an excellent special forces operator, but in this interview with these comments, he comes off as petty. You don't fall on your sword in a flurry of ad hominem attacks. You go out making cogent, substantive policy comments. McChrystal doesn't do that, at all.