In the U.S., they say that fighting with the Pentagon is the same as fighting with a 300-kilogram gorilla. President Barack Obama just demonstrated up to what point this saying is true. Stanley McChrystal, one of the key generals in charge of 100,000 U.S. soldiers and 40,000 NATO soldiers in Afghanistan, was interviewed by Rolling Stone Magazine. In the interview, he regarded key government players as clowns, in addition to other epithets. Strictly speaking, no public official — in any country — stays in power after such nonsense.
Despite this, McChrystal wasn’t lacking advocates. Robert M. Gates, the secretary of defense, said that at the moment it would be very bad for the delicate Afghan campaign to lose the author of the applied strategy. It was, in any case, Gates who proposed that McChrystal oust Gen. David D. McKiernan, who had only one year in office. In the Republican opposition, and even among the Democrats, people advised ignoring the insults of the uniformed.
McChrystal is a classic military man that complies but doesn’t always carry through with everything he’s supposed to. He had barely taken the job when he demanded a substantial reinforcement of forces. He even threatened to resign if his demands weren’t met. Then he resorted to the usual leaks of classified documents to the press. In the end, he got what he wanted: The government agreed to send 30,000 more men. In any case, the tactics bordering on insubordination did not go unnoticed.
But this time Obama decided to call for his resignation and stated that the challenged article eroded the trust and “undermines the civilian control of the military that is at the core of our democratic system.” The president got out of a tight spot with the astute tactic of appointing as McChrystal’s successor General David Petraeus, who has broad support across the political spectrum and also has thorough knowledge of the Afghan situation. Petraeus also helped design the strategy to launch the departure of U.S. troops from Iraq.
The row between civilians and the U.S. military officials expresses the growing frustration with a war that is now in its ninth year. The number of deaths of American soldiers is an indicator of the difficulties: In 2001, the year of the invasion, 12 troops were killed; in 2008, 295; in 2009, 521; and thus far this year, 296 have died. In total 1,133 Americans and 731 soldiers of other nationalities have died.*
Afghanistan has not succeeded in establishing a stable and legitimate government. Afghan President Hamid Karzai is questioned by many observers of the international community. The British, who have lost 307 men, have illustrated through its officers’ statements that this is a war that cannot be won by military force, something that Washington admitted the moment that Karzai was given the green light to negotiate with some enemy Taliban factions. In fact, the war in Afghanistan is already destabilizing a large area of Pakistan. Western commanders refer to the conflict as AfPak, joining the names of the two countries.
The Taliban, which is one of the most reactionary groups in the world, oversimplify sins that come from their religious fundamentalism. They claim that their agenda is fighting for good against evil. About this situation, their spokesman Yousuf Ahmadi said: “We don’t care whether it’s McChrystal or Petraeus. Our position is clear. We’ll be fighting the invading forces until they leave.”
Perhaps it is time for Washington and NATO to do more than change the leadership. After nearly a decade of fruitless struggle, the strategy should be revised.
* Editor’s note: The yearly totals of casualties listed are in reference to coalition casualties, including U.S. The figures listed in the article do not add up to the total as stated.
Regardless of McChrystal’s military capabilities, or his penchant for political posturing, he committed an offense that every American soldier is entirely aware is out of bounds…he denigrated the Commander & Chief, and did so publicly.
When you’re discharged from the military, you may say anything you want, whenever you want, and to whomever you want, about the president.
But when you sign up to serve in uniform, you have willingly given up that right, for the duration of your service.
McChrystal was well aware of this, but decided to violate it anyway. His being “asked” to step down was entirely warranted.