TruthNews Commentary, June 23, 2010

President Obama has fired his top general in Afghanistan in a fit of pique over remarks that the general supposedly made which were critical of the administration. I say supposedly because the interview of General Stanley McChrystal has not yet been published by Rolling Stone magazine. News reports say only that the article, entitled "Runaway General," contains unflattering remarks about Vice President Joe Biden and other administration officials attributed to McChrystal's aides.

What’s behind this firing? McChrystal, who served in the Army Rangers and was previously the commander of the Joint Special Operations Command, was reportedly known for saying and thinking what other military leaders are afraid to, one of the reasons cited for his appointment to lead U.S. forces in Afghanistan. Obama himself appointed McChrystal in 2009 after firing Gen. David McKiernan. McKiernan had been on the job for less than a year after replacing Lt. General Karl Eikenberry as commander in Afghanistan.

When Obama fired McKiernan, the Washington Post called it a "a rare decision to remove a wartime commander." The Post described McChrystal’s appointment as one of several replacements of generals who represented the "traditional Army" with generals "who have pressed for the use of counter-insurgency tactics." Well, so much for that approach.

Can the President really be so stupid as to fire somebody just for making remarks critical of the administration? Well, perhaps this President is just that stupid. Obama seems to prize personal loyalty more than competence. Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Negroponte and Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar continue to flounder over the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, but neither of their jobs appear to be in danger. But yet-to-be published remarks by McChrystal’s aides led to the general’s immediate demise.

McChrystal’s position in Afghanistan wasn’t helped by the presence of his predecessor Eikenberry as the U.S. ambassador. As ambassador, Eikenberry actively undermined the Afghan government. According to the New York Times, "In November 2009, Karl W. Eikenberry, the United States ambassador to Afghanistan and retired Army lieutenant general, sent two classified cables to his superiors in which he offered his assessment of the proposed U.S. strategy in Afghanistan. While the broad outlines of Mr. Eikenberry's cables were leaked soon after he sent them, the complete cables, obtained recently by The New York Times, show just how strongly the current ambassador feels about President Hamid Karzai and the Afghan government, the state of its military, and the chances that a troop buildup will actually hurt the war effort by making the Karzai government too dependent on the United States."

In June 2010, Gen. McChrystal complained to an interviewer that he felt "betrayed" by Eikenberry's statements in the leaked cables. Eikenberry was reportedly one of the administration officials who was criticized by McChrystal in the Rolling Stone interview.

The chaos that Obama has inflicted in Afghanistan through his second command change in less than a year may be fatal to U.S. chances of success there. Perhaps hoping to stem the criticism of his administration, Obama has nominated Gen. David Petraeus as McChrystal’s replacement. Petraeus was the general who led the successful surge in Iraq, and was subsequently McChrystal’s superior as commander of U.S. Central Command, which is responsible for Iraq and Afghanistan.

Petraeus can undoubtedly fill McChrystal’s shoes. However, it may take him several months to come up to McChrystal’s level of understanding of the Afghan situation, and these months will be during the critical surge that Obama initiated. In addition, Petraeus, despite his youthful appearance, has already stayed in the Army past the normal 35-year limit, and he suffers from health problems which could limit his own tenure in Afghanistan. Finally, if administration officials such as Eikenberry continue to make war on Petraeus the way they have against McChrystal and Karzai, then Afghanistan may return to Taliban rule.

There’s another factor here. If any military action were contemplated against Iran, it would be Central Command’s responsibility to carry it out. By reassigning Petraeus to Afghanistan, Obama has simultaneously decapitated Central Command. In addition, without Petraeus at Central Command, the fragile gains in Iraq could be lost.

Perhaps it’s the President who’s out of control rather than McChrystal.