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Politics : Politics for Pros- moderated -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Nadine Carroll who wrote (369872)	6/22/2010 3:13:35 PM
From: FJB	Respond to of 793903

RE:It's impossible to believe that McChrystal didn't know what he was doing, or who Rolling Stone is. I was contemplating his reasons too. Maybe he wants the administration to put up, or get us out as indicated by the wimps comment.

To: Nadine Carroll who wrote (369872)	6/22/2010 4:26:51 PM
From: unclewest	15 Recommendations Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 793903

It's impossible to believe that McChrystal didn't know what he was doing Concur. We finally have a general with the cajones to tell it like it is. If so, I applaud Mc and his use of a venue (any venue) that made it to the public eye. Would I have preferred to see it in say the WSJ? Of course. But Mc may not have have trusted them. Mc has done what Harold K Johnson, Wheeler, Palmer and other four stars wished they had done when they wandered around the country saying they wish they had spoken out during Nam. It will be interesting to see where Petraeus stands on this. If Mc is relieved of command, we should bring every American soldier in Afghanistan home immediately. If we stay, we must get out of the box. We should follow in Marshall's footsteps and look for guys like Major Jim Gant who wrote the paper about one village at a time. Gant nailed it. SECDEF Gates should promote Gant to 3 Stars, ask him to select a bevy of War College Graduate LTCs to assist him, make all those guys Brigadier Generals and get on with the wars. The idea is not far fetched. When Marshall fired hundreds of do nothing generals and senior officers at the beginning of WWII, he sent a hand picked LTC named Eisenhower and sent him to Europe. Three years later Ike was wearing 5 stars and had won WWII in Europe. What we must not do is continue to lose American soldiers at the rate of nearly 1 per day in a failing effort, only to leave in 2010. That would really be criminal in my view.

To: Nadine Carroll who wrote (369872)	6/22/2010 5:41:59 PM
From: MrLucky	4 Recommendations Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 793903

Of course he knew. The question is whether he handled himself in the interview appropriately and what objective did he pursue with his responses etc. to the interviewer. If he was trying to educate the public about the war and the administration, he might have tried the NYT, WAPO or FOX versus the Stone which is nothing more than a National Enquirer rag. He may be a well qualified and capable general. I don't know. However, his judgment is suspect in my view. He was a part of the mishandling of the Pat Tillman affair. He bolted on his demand for the Afghan surge troops by making it newsworthy. At first I thought he was serious regarding this interview. Now that he is on an apology tour of the Beltway, I doubt it. A good or great general? Perhaps. Sound judgment? Another question. Another issue being bandied about is his role in the decision making of Afghan ROE which has caused unnecessary loss of American lives. Some say it is his. Some say it is from DOD and the WH. I suspect they all own a piece of that decision. All this said, we owe him a debt of gratitude for his service to the country and I say, "General, thank you." However, we also have the right to expect the highest level of competence, judgment and expertise from someone wearing several stars on their shoulder straps and commanding the war in Afghan.