Posted on 06/27/2010 11:57:18 PM PDT by Brown Deer
MR. GREGORY: Did the president do the right thing?
SEN. McCAIN: Yes, he did, and he took the appropriate steps, in my view. I would like to say, in General McChrystal's behalf, that he played a key role in Iraq in the efforts against al-Qaeda. A lot of this is not known and will--may never be known. But General McChrystal did a great job there. The president took appropriate action, and we wish General McChrystal well in the future.
...
SEN. McCAIN: First of all, there's no excuse for it, OK? There's no excuse for it. But part of it, some of it was frustration. Part of it was a group of officers who find themselves with a night off which they did not expect, having been working 24/7 in Kabul. They went out in a social environment. And I must tell you that as a young Navy pilot that on occasion at happy hour some things were said about our commanding officer that maybe we wouldn't want to be held responsible for. But that does not excuse anything. But it certainly maybe understands the--makes people understand the circumstances a little better. But, overall, you just, you just can't do those things, and we expect our officer corps to have the maturity to realize that.
(Excerpt) Read more at msnbc.msn.com ...
“Now the Gen was totally crazy to trust any reporter.”
Since “the Gen” is a social/politial liberal, voted for Obama, forbade Fox News for his troops, etc., he most likely DID trust the MSM. One more example of questionable discernment. His replacement might actually be a patriot instead of a whiny metrosexual liberal who forced troops to ask, “Mother, may I?” before attacking the enemy. IMHO...
I didn't see ANY quotes from McC other than one about Biden. Did you see more?
I think Tom Harkin lost more, actually.
Re: 15 — Thank you.
I’ll have to read it again to see the direct quotes attributed to him.
McCrystal is a liberal who voted for OBOZO and probably felt safe with a Rolling Stone reporter.
Very good point!
I was wondering if, perhaps, that McCrystal played this one the only way he could. Let’s assume that if he wanted out of that hell hole - he has 2 options, guit or be removed. If he quits, he is bad and gets dragged through the press in a worse way. If he says something like he did and gets relieved of his duties, obama looks like a hawk (that hurt to say) for 20 seconds and the general doesn’t look so bad. Maybe the general saw pending failure and this was his way of getting out without being made the scapegoat by the administration. We all know how well this administration places blame onto others.
I do not give a crap about the ROE...any general that will allow marines to be slaughtered without giving air or artillery support to them, because of the silly assed ROE, should suffer the same fate as the marines he let die...maybe his consience got the best of him, and he wanted to be fired...he deserved far worse
You do know that the new guy was the old guys boss?
Both being patriots.
Got a link to that?
Didn't think so.
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"I like Karl (Eikenberry), I've known him for years, but they'd never said anything like that to us before," says McChrystal, who adds that he felt "betrayed" by the leak. "Here's one that covers his flank for the history books. Now if we fail, they can say, 'I told you so.' "
Both of these quotes, directly attributed to McChrystal, are problematic. Combined with all of the "Senior Aide" quotes, they show a disdain for the administration, not just in policy, but for particular people in the chain of command.
It's ironic, because it seems the reporter was trying to create a "liberal warrior" out of McChrystal and ended up trashing the administrations strategy in Afghanistan.
McChrystal Stone Rolled http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z3-a3GKyMm0&feature=player_embedded
The rules handed out here are not what McChrystal intended - they've been distorted as they passed through the chain of command - but knowing that does nothing to lessen the anger of troops on the ground. when I came over here and heard that McChrystal was in charge, I thought we would get our gun on," says Hicks, who has served three tours of combat. "I get COIN. I get all that. McChrystal comes here, explains it, it makes sense. But then he goes away on his bird, and by the time his directives get passed down to us through Big Army, they're all f***** up - either because somebody is trying to cover their ass, or because they just don't understand it themselves."
There is something about this whole episode that bothers me. Conservatives/hawks are over reacting and the libs are only looking at how McC' "offended" Obama. The reaction doesn't jibe with the quotes.
If he had called Obama a bungling fool (which is, of course, the truth) there would be a justified reaction.
Most of the quotes are attributed to aides and soldiers. I really don't get the reaction from the right.
It's ironic, because it seems the reporter was trying to create a "liberal warrior" out of McChrystal and ended up trashing the administrations strategy in Afghanistan.
Yes, I got THAT too. The reporter tried, I think, to make McC look like a bit of a maverick a la McStupid hoping to elevate him in the eyes of the libs but it backfired.
I tried to stop that post.
I meant to say "The reporter tried, I think, to make McC look like a bit of a maverick a la McStupid hoping to elevate him in the eyes of the libs the conservatives because McC has always supported Obama but it backfired.
Was McCain a 4-star commander? Did he do it in front of a reporter?
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