McChrystal: An accident waiting to happen By: Byron York Chief Political Correspondent 06/22/10 9:50 AM EDT
Gen. Stanley A. McChrystal (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta/file)
I just got off the phone with a retired military man, with more than 25 years experience, who has worked with Gen. Stanley McChrystal in the Pentagon. His reaction to McChrystal’s performance in the new Rolling Stone profile? No surprise at all.
“Those of us who knew him would unanimously tell you that this was just a matter of time,” the man says. “He talks this way all the time. I’m surprised it took this long for it to rear its ugly head.”
“He had great disdain for anyone, as he said, ‘in a suit,’” the former military man continues. “I was shocked one day in a small group of people when he took [former Defense Secretary Donald] Rumsfeld to task in front of all of us.”
“The other thing about him is that he is probably one of the more arrogant, cocksure military guys I have run across. That in itself is not necessarily a character flaw, but when you couple it with his great disdain for civilians, it’s a very volatile combination.”
The former military man is under no illusions about the general nature of relations between the military and the civilian leadership. “I don’t consider this an anomaly,” he says. “You can find examples of this going back to the founding of the republic. Nevertheless, it is very disturbing that he would have such disdain for the civilian leadership.”
Obama is in a bind with McChrystal. There’s no doubt Obama would be fully justified in firing his top general. But at the same time Obama has committed himself to a rigid timeline for withdrawal from Afghanistan. Changing commanders could complicate that enormously. Right now, because of his own policy decisions, the president has no good choice.
Read more at the Washington Examiner: www.washingtonexaminer.co...878494.html#ixzz0raylUE00
