Zeit/Aecetia: I hate to disagree with you, but as a former Army officer, I have to say that McChrystal was wrong. Regardless of his feelings and frustration, you don’t go public and you don’t tangle with the President, who is the Commander-in-Chief and, ultimately, your boss.
Was Biden wrong in the remarks that he made that provoked McChrystal’s first response? Yup. But it doesn’t matter. Same way that McChrystal should not have, under any circumstances, granted that series of Rolling Stone interviews that led to the article. I read the article, twice, and I came away with “WTF was he thinking?!?” Definitely no bueno, but entirely in keeping with the General’s personality and demeanor. There’s a reason he was so successful on the COIN and black ops front and the downside is what we’re seeing here.
Same goes for Truman and MacArthur. MacArthur was right in his assertions and his strategy, but you don’t publicly challenge the President, who represents the final command authority in the U.S. It creates a major problem for the Army, especially when it comes to dividing loyalties among your troops.
There is a way to go about this and McChrystal chose the wrong path. I have tremendous respect for McChrystal and he is a large part of why al-Qaeda has suffered such horrific losses and degradation of capabilities, but there is a chain of command and numerous ways to achieve your goals on a back channel basis, without resorting to this sort of brinkmanship.
Looking forward to reading his book, though. You know that’s coming next.
