What General McChrystal Said: Excerpts That Got Him Fired
Like many of you, I really did not hear what the big issue was that got General McChrystal, the commander of all US forces in Afghanistan, fired. Whether you think it is just or not, military personnel talk the way they do. Many could give a hoot about PC, you know, political correctness so not to offend. When in a war zone, all this PC stuff flies out the window. They vent and slang it out their frustrations about war, policy, rules of engagement and every day life.
General McChrystal is no different except for his rank. Here are some of the things that got him fired:
- McChrystal was ordered to attend a dinner with the French minister in order to keep the French in the war. His response was, "I'd rather have my ass kicked by a roomful of people than go to this dinner. Unfortunately, no one in this room could do it." When someone asks who's he going to dinner with, his reply is, " some French minister that is fucking gay".
- Numerous inside belittling remarks about the Vice President, Joe Biden, or Joe Bite me.
- McChrystal found it difficult to confer with Washington, namely Obama and Biden regarding Afghanistan policy because, " I was selling an unsellable position" that put himself and Washington on opposite sides of the table.
- McChrystal's comments about Obama after their first meeting, "he looked uncomfortable and intimidated by a room full of military brass"
- McChrystal vents his frustrations about the politics of war and talks shit about many in the Obama administration like General Jones who is referred to as, " a clown stuck in 1985".
- McChrystal found dealing with Richard Holbrooke, the official in charge of reintegrating the Taliban into Afghanistan like a, " wounded animal that may get fired, that makes him dangerous. He just comes in, pulls on a lever or whatever he can grasp onto".
McChrystal delayed the upcoming military attack on the Taliban controlled city of Kandahar because he was not sure if the locals supported the idea. This was important because one of the reasons that the Marjah attack failed was because of just that. The locals helped the Taliban.
While many in Washington abandoned McChrystal as supporters, including Obama and Biden, oddly enough, Afghanistan's president Harmid Karzai called him, "the best American commander of the war" and was sad to see him fired.
It is a political story on a military issue that is a total lost cause anyway. A waste of US resources, time, money and life on some illusion after 10 years that we can make Afghanistan a democracy. Bullshit. The Russians are laughing their heads off.
