And now, we have a crisis of Presidential leadership. Well, the lack there of. GEN McChrystal said he’ll resign if the President doesn’t up the ante with troops.
I support GEN McChrystal on this one. Wither give him the tools to win, or get the hell out.
In Which Obama Has A General Problem, Just Like A Real President*
Roggio at Long War points to and discusses a McClatchy report that McChrystal is ready to resign if not given the resources to prosecute the war in Afghanistan.
I’m going to guess Obama and Emanuel are not going to take kindly to being pressured, but it puts them in a spot.
Related:
McChrystal to resign if not supported
By Uncle Jimbo
Another reason to like the guy. Not only did he used to be President of the Pipehitters Union, but he is standing up for the troops.
Within 24 hours of the leak of the Afghanistan assessment to The Washington Post, General Stanley McChrystal’s team fired its second shot across the bow of the Obama administration. According to McClatchy, military officers close to General McChrystal said he is prepared to resign if he isn’t given sufficient resources (read “troops”) to implement a change of direction in Afghanistan:
He was sent to Afghanistan to command and win. He needs more troops to do that, which everyone knows. He is getting slow-rolled as the White House sniffs the political breezes. President Obama talked a big game on the campaign trail and in March announced his new strategy. Now that he has gotten beaten up over all his big government plans, he is tap dancing on Afghanistan. He has had McChrystal’s report for more than three weeks and reportedly has held only one meeting about it.
Related:
Let Me Add My Two Cents To The “McChrystal To Resign” Chorus
Uber Pig and Uncle Jimbo have more than adequately covered this, but like Uncle J said, sometimes you just have to vent.
One of the things military officers do more regularly than they like to admit is play “you bet your bars”. The ‘bars’ referred too are usually captain bars, but it applies at all levels of command. Essentially it means you find yourself in a situation where you feel ethically obligated to lay your career on the line with a decision you make. If the situation works out well, then it’s all good. If not, you’ve “bet your bars” and lost and your career is most likely over. They aren’t all life or death situations. Sometimes they’re situations in which you cannot morally or ethically continue to do what you are being ordered to do because you cannot support the mission as structured. You feel ethically obligated to take a stand.
Truth, Lies and In Between 