The General Wins a Free Flight
Published in Frankfurter Rundschau
(Germany) on 22 June 2010
by Arnd Festerling (link to original)
(Germany) on 22 June 2010
by Arnd Festerling (link to original)
Translated from
by Ron Argentati.
Edited by Sam Carter.
Can a fool command NATO troops in Afghanistan? That question has come up ever since U.S. General Stanley McChrystal badmouthed his bosses at the White House, Barack Obama and Joe Biden. The fact that he did the same to an ambassador and a special envoy is, by comparison, mere child’s play.
The cool, calculating inventor of the ultimate strategy to defeat the Taliban apparently lost all sight of his goal. First of all, you never badmouth the boss. Second, even if you do, you shouldn’t openly talk about it later. And third, if you’re foolish enough to badmouth the boss, you should never in a million years do so to a reporter. Last of all, the foolhardy claim that you’ve been misquoted or misunderstood would be ridiculous even if said by a supply truck driver, much less by the commanding general.
McChrystal has won a free flight to talk with Obama and Biden, and it is in Washington that my initial question will be answered.
The cool, calculating inventor of the ultimate strategy to defeat the Taliban apparently lost all sight of his goal. First of all, you never badmouth the boss. Second, even if you do, you shouldn’t openly talk about it later. And third, if you’re foolish enough to badmouth the boss, you should never in a million years do so to a reporter. Last of all, the foolhardy claim that you’ve been misquoted or misunderstood would be ridiculous even if said by a supply truck driver, much less by the commanding general.
McChrystal has won a free flight to talk with Obama and Biden, and it is in Washington that my initial question will be answered.