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The General McChrystal Fracas
Wow.
It's been a while since I've seen shit hit the fan like that.
One thing I've always liked about military men, tradesmen and sportsmen is this: they never mince words. You know exactly where you stand with them. As a person with a tendency of saying whatever's on my mind (usually with no care or clue of how it will affect the people around me) I've always appreciated this. It's nice to be around a kindred spirit and it's probably why I've always gotten along with a lot of them. Even so, you should always know your limits.
Now, let's say you're a General in a public position, in fact, let's say you're the commander of all NATO and US Forces in Afghanistan. Pretty big, right? Right. So, it's pretty much understood that you should probably be a little more...'diplomatic'. Y'know, scale back on the naughty words, reign the arrogance in a tad, maybe get someone else to write your 'personal views' and leave your actual personal views aside, that sort of stuff. 'Cause you don't wanna cross the limit. But McChrystal seems to have seen all these rules and decided that they were meant for other people. Because what he did was stunning. Mouthing off about the President to a journalist from Rolling Stone? Yeah, that's way past the limit. I can't even comprehend.
Possibly McChrystal just didn't care. In fact, I'm gonna say it was damn near likely that he didn't care. One quote from the now infamous Rolling Stones article seems to lend this theory some credence:
Although McChrystal has been in charge of the war for only a year, in that short time he has managed to piss off almost everyone with a stake in the conflict.
Given the sheer amount of people who have stake in this conflict, that's a hell of an achievement. I damn near started a slow clap when I read that.
Of course, this isn't the first time McChrystal has let stupid shit tumble out of his mouth and then gotten in trouble with the president about it. Hell no!
Last fall, during the question-and-answer session following a speech he gave in London, McChrystal dismissed the counterterrorism strategy being advocated by Vice President Joe Biden as "shortsighted," saying it would lead to a state of "Chaos-istan." The remarks earned him a smackdown from the president himself, who summoned the general to a terse private meeting aboard Air Force One. The message to McChrystal seemed clear: Shut the fuck up, and keep a lower profile
Why have I not heard of this man before?! I'm mouthy and arrogant with a specialty in dick moves and I wanna go and shake his hand. He's my hero. You want more proof?
The general's staff is a handpicked collection of killers, spies, geniuses, patriots, political operators and outright maniacs. There's a former head of British Special Forces, two Navy Seals, an Afghan Special Forces commando, a lawyer, two fighter pilots and at least two dozen combat veterans and counterinsurgency experts.
Holy shit! He's a real-life Bond Villain! Obviously, McChrystal is like the Wu-Tang Clan - you don't fuck with him. Michael Hastings, the Rolling Stones journalist who followed him around and wrote the article, should probably start sleeping with one eye open.
But the things that really, really got him in trouble? Oh, man. Many of the oft-quoted comments were actually made by his aides, who referred to one top official as a "wounded animal" and another as a "clown" (I'd post the actual quotes here, but this post is long enough already and I'm getting tired). Obviously, there is no love lost betweeh the people who are on the ground and the people who are making the decisions. Just like any other workplace, really. The difference between any other person and McChrystal is that he and his people had a journalist following them around for a month, and this is being played out on a world stage. And his career will be ruined. And the bitchslap is coming from President Obama.
In his defence, McChrystal was probably not the best person to be in public. The man had spent his whole life in the military and surrounded by military men. He has the respect of many a soldier. But a PR savvy man with the ability to navigate his way around the notoriously murky and difficult waters of Washington politics, especially at this time? Yeah, probably not. This is a man who was obviously made to fight and win wars, not kiss babies and shake hands. Let's be realistic here.
What can we learn from this? Who knows? This isn't really about McChrystal. This is really about the war in Afghanistan and a lot of people have strong feelings about this. I'm not gonna wade into those waters, because I'm already biased. So I guess I'll take away this small nugget of learning-don't mouth off in front of journalists. Those bastards will publish anything you say.
