"I am surprised that some of you don't understand what is at stake in McChrystal's offense. It is really quite simple. The principle has always been in this country that the federal military is an instrument of state policy. Our tradition is designed to prevent the emergence of "Caesarism" as a method of picking leaders or determining basic national policy. To maintain that principle Macarthur was fired on the advice of George Marshall. What McChrystal has done is to challenge President Obama. Everyone in the armed forces knows that. The notion has emerged in the COIN community that Obama is weak and can be bullied into removing the time restriction that he has placed on the Afghanistan COIN campaign plan that he adopted at their urging last year. Macarthur implicitly threatened both Roosevelt and Truman with the possibility that he would mobilize Republican politicos against them. The COIN crowd think that the same method can be used against this president. They have been willing to bet that he is no Truman and that Gates and Clinton do not have Marshall's strength. The effrontery of the deed in feeding this reporter all this material without placing it off the record is clearly a challenge to civilian control of policy.
McChrystal must be fired. Then he should be put on the retired list in his permanent grade with no end of career award. Then some thought should be given to the clear violation here of Article 88 of UCMJ.
Active duty military people are free to express their opinions to their superiors. They are not and should not be free to use the press against the civilian government.
Admiral Byng comes to mind. pl
1 comment:
Still has a civilian government? Yes, but...
http://andrewsullivan.theatlantic.com/the_daily_dish/2010/06/petraeus-now-runs-the-war-and-obamas-presidency.html
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