Insubordination in the military is strictly forbidden and leads to immediate relief of duty. If the military does not follow direct orders from our civilian leaders, then our democracy is no different than a military dictatorship.
The General's actions were disgraceful and the consequences are absolutely justifiable.
From Politico:
President Barack Obama has relieved Gen. Stanley McChrystal of command of U.S. forces in Afghanistan and replaced him Gen. David Petraeus — putting a general well-known throughout the world for his work in Iraq in charge of the mission in Afghanistan.
Obama said Wednesday he made the decision with regret but “with the certainty that it’s the right thing for the mission in Afghanistan, for our military and for our country.” He also said it “saddened” him to lose the services of McChrystal.
Obama also stressed that the decision was a change in personnel not of policy — signaling that he would stick with a war plan that was McChrystal’s creation, focused on counterinsurgency, routing the Taliban from its strongholds and supporting the Afghan government of President Hamid Karzai.
Obama said he made the decision not out of a sense of “personal insult” over comments by McChrystal and his aides published in Rolling Stone, but he made it clear that he believed the comments were damaging to the authority of the civilian chain of command that oversees the military.
“The conduct does not meet the standards that should be set by a commanding general,” Obama said. “it undermines the civilian control of the military that is at the heart of our system.”
The Petraeus move is in some ways a move backward for the four-star general — who as head of U.S. Central Command was McChrystal’s boss in charge of the whole Middle East theater. But it signaled a desire by Obama to move swiftly to cap the McChrystal situation by picking a surefooted new commander, familiar with combat zones, counterinsurgency and how to deal with the media.
The choice of Petraeus also signals Obama’s strong recommitment of the Afghan strategy with a military icon whose popularity and credibility in this area are unquestioned. Now, as the head of U.S. Central Command based in Tampa, Petraeus is in a position to slide into the job and pick up where McChrystal left off when he left Kabul abruptly last night. The choice means that Obama has prevailed over members of his Cabinet and senior staffers who doubted the strategy, because Petraeus would not be seen to accept the job unless he had the full backing of the president to conduct the counterinsurgency in Afghanistan.
Petraeus was in the Pentagon on Wednesday morning for a media interview. He is expected to appear at the Washington Golf and Country Club this evening for a regular “conversation” with the public, but it was unclear whether that event would remain on his schedule.
Other options for replacing McChrystal had included promoting Lt. Gen. David Rodriguez, the No. 2 officer in Afghanistan, or Lt. Gen. John Caldwell, head of training for Afghan forces. But military officials think that either choice would have been disruptive to current operations, requiring either officer to learn a new job and leaving ripples of discord below.
Obama’s announcement came after he met with McChrystal for 30 minutes Wednesday at the White House after recalling him from Kabul to explain disparaging comments about Obama and his aides in Rolling Stone magazine. McChrystal left the White House abruptly after that meeting and was never seen returning.
Obama then convened a meeting of his Afghan policy team in the Situation Room – which included many of the people that McChrystal’s team had criticized in the magazine article.
Ahead of the meeting, the White House had signaled that McChrystal could save his job if he could convince Obama that he understood the gravity of the situation. But White House aides also signaled that McChrystal would have to make a judgment about whether Obama still had confidence in him, or should step aside for the good of the mission.
The McChrystal matter has proven to be a test of leadership for Obama, who faced a pair of unpalatable choices for dealing with the talkative general: fire McChrystal, or accept his resignation, and run the risk of changing commanders at a critical moment of the war, or allow him to stay, and appear as though there was no penalty for comments by the general and his aides that many said bordered on insubordination.
Obama said Wednesday he made the decision with regret but “with the certainty that it’s the right thing for the mission in Afghanistan, for our military and for our country.” He also said it “saddened” him to lose the services of McChrystal.
Obama also stressed that the decision was a change in personnel not of policy — signaling that he would stick with a war plan that was McChrystal’s creation, focused on counterinsurgency, routing the Taliban from its strongholds and supporting the Afghan government of President Hamid Karzai.
Obama said he made the decision not out of a sense of “personal insult” over comments by McChrystal and his aides published in Rolling Stone, but he made it clear that he believed the comments were damaging to the authority of the civilian chain of command that oversees the military.
“The conduct does not meet the standards that should be set by a commanding general,” Obama said. “it undermines the civilian control of the military that is at the heart of our system.”
The Petraeus move is in some ways a move backward for the four-star general — who as head of U.S. Central Command was McChrystal’s boss in charge of the whole Middle East theater. But it signaled a desire by Obama to move swiftly to cap the McChrystal situation by picking a surefooted new commander, familiar with combat zones, counterinsurgency and how to deal with the media.
The choice of Petraeus also signals Obama’s strong recommitment of the Afghan strategy with a military icon whose popularity and credibility in this area are unquestioned. Now, as the head of U.S. Central Command based in Tampa, Petraeus is in a position to slide into the job and pick up where McChrystal left off when he left Kabul abruptly last night. The choice means that Obama has prevailed over members of his Cabinet and senior staffers who doubted the strategy, because Petraeus would not be seen to accept the job unless he had the full backing of the president to conduct the counterinsurgency in Afghanistan.
Petraeus was in the Pentagon on Wednesday morning for a media interview. He is expected to appear at the Washington Golf and Country Club this evening for a regular “conversation” with the public, but it was unclear whether that event would remain on his schedule.
Other options for replacing McChrystal had included promoting Lt. Gen. David Rodriguez, the No. 2 officer in Afghanistan, or Lt. Gen. John Caldwell, head of training for Afghan forces. But military officials think that either choice would have been disruptive to current operations, requiring either officer to learn a new job and leaving ripples of discord below.
Obama’s announcement came after he met with McChrystal for 30 minutes Wednesday at the White House after recalling him from Kabul to explain disparaging comments about Obama and his aides in Rolling Stone magazine. McChrystal left the White House abruptly after that meeting and was never seen returning.
Obama then convened a meeting of his Afghan policy team in the Situation Room – which included many of the people that McChrystal’s team had criticized in the magazine article.
Ahead of the meeting, the White House had signaled that McChrystal could save his job if he could convince Obama that he understood the gravity of the situation. But White House aides also signaled that McChrystal would have to make a judgment about whether Obama still had confidence in him, or should step aside for the good of the mission.
The McChrystal matter has proven to be a test of leadership for Obama, who faced a pair of unpalatable choices for dealing with the talkative general: fire McChrystal, or accept his resignation, and run the risk of changing commanders at a critical moment of the war, or allow him to stay, and appear as though there was no penalty for comments by the general and his aides that many said bordered on insubordination.