McChrystal Gives Obama Little Choice

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On Wednesday's Washington Unplugged, CBS News' Jan Crawford hosted a roundtable discussion on the negative message had General Stanley McChrystal not been replaced and the new spotlight on the struggling war effort in Afghanistan.

"If he [stayed] at this point you have to ask yourself 'what message does that send our allies?' said Craig Shirley, President of Shirley and Banister Public Affairs. "What message does that send President Obama's political opponents? What message does that send to other members of the military that they can break the chain of command, violate the code of justice and openly criticize the commander in chief?"

According to Richard Fontaine, a senior fellow at the Center for a New American Security, it wouldn't have been a good one.

"You can be court-martialed for making certain comments or statements against the president, the vice president," Fontaine said. "There is a difference between the kinds of remarks that commissioned officers, General McChrystal and his aides, make and civilians who work for the government or frat boys or anyone else because of the civil military relations in this country where the military is subordinate to the civilian command."

McChrystal's departure puts a spotlight on a war in Afghanistan that is already under some scrutiny.

"This is sort of another indication to people, probably in the region, but also here at home that are increasingly getting the feeling the war's not going particularly well," Fontaine said. "It's going to take time. There is a deadline a year out from now but with the larger campaign not looking tremendously successful...I think this probably just increases the doubts people have about the long-term viability of the strategy there."

General David Petraeus, McChrystal's replacement, and will have a lot on his plate from the get-go.

"Ultimately some signs of tangible progress on the ground and a decrease in US casualties will be what lots of the support for the war will rest on," Fontaine said. "But certainly in the meantime I think that the support for the war won't go up for this and it will probably to down to some degree."

Watch Wednesday's Washington Unplugged, also featuring CBS News National Security Correspondent David Martin and CBS News Correspondent Barry Petersen's new book about the personal impact of Alzheimer's disease in his new book, For Jan.

"Washington Unplugged," CBSNews.com's exclusive daily politics Webshow, appears live on CBSNews.com each weekday at 12:30 p.m. ET. Click here to check out previous episodes.

[larrryshrine]

by cleantheDCcesspool June 23, 2010 10:52 PM EDT
Well, I guess that's a theory, if it makes you happy. I prefer to think that McChrystal exhibited greata honor in exposing obamao's war strategy as the naive, inexperienced, blunder that it is. McChrystal "fell on his own sword" to save us from the C in C who has never done anything but run cons and shakedowns, who has never been so much as a boy scout, and expects his stupid policies to be followed, at the cost of American lives, by professional soldiers. Not in McChrystal's honor-bound world!
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Let's not make McChrystal a hero; he is anything but. He blatantly, and stupidly, violated the Military Code. He broke his oath. Any Commander in Chief with any backbone would have fired him on the spot, which is just what Obama did. There was no other solution. I see the general's actions as unthinking, and probably fueled by alcohol.

[bundye]

Good move, Mr. President.

[RespectOthersAlways]

Gen. McChrystal is a product of the toxic environment created by Tea Bagger extremists who have a no-holds barred campaign to delegitimize President Obama's administration with a vitriolic campaign of devaluation, denigration, vilification and nullification.

These Tea Baggers have carried partisan politics to its illogical conclusion. They created an environment where a 4-Star General felt it was Ok to violate every cannon of military discipline and the time-honored constitutional underpinnings of this democracy ? the precepts and principles of which he, Gen. McChrystal, not only swore to uphold, but fought for and defended along with countless others for decades.

In a real sense, General McChrystal is a victim of this Tea Bagger extremist illness afflicting the nation. So, while we blame McChrystal for a total breakdown of discipline and chain of command, we must see this travesty for what it truly is: the bitter fruits of Sarah Palin, John McCain, Scott Brown, Rush Limbaugh, Mario Rubio, Glenn Beck, and others who, everyday, sow toxic seeds of intolerance and disregard for the lives of their opponents. Along with these Tea Bagger extremists, we must also blame the House and Senate Republican leadership who, by their deafening silence and disciplined unreasonableness, continue to fan the flames, cuddle up to the extremists, and nurture a dangerously toxic political environment unworthy of civilized and intelligent humanity.

Yes, Gen. McChrystal got carried away with the excesses of Sarah Palin, Scott Brown, Mario Rubio and others. In so doing, he ruined a great career. Unfortunately, this lesson will certainly escape most of our Tea Bagger Republican friends who profit significantly from this extremism.

[MurdochSucks]

I agree, RespectOthersAlways. I have a more vile assumption that this could actually be a plot from the Cheney backed McChrystal to undermine Obama and the Democrat's image in a midterm election year. I have a feeling this was a stage act and that he will be rewarded by defense corporations like Haliburton, Black Water, KBR, etc.

[JustYourAverageReader]

RespectOthersAlways, perhaps you could change your posting name to something more reflective of your demeanor and style??? I see no respect in what you posted.

[MurdochSucks]

Another racist white general? Wow, what a huge surprise.

[FHMullane]

He had to let him go.