"I wouldn't have fired the General. I know. I know. Chain of Command and all that. But keep in mind; this wasn't a policy dispute on the war in Afghanistan. It was a personality flap. The General already had two strikes on him from previous run-ins with the President. I would have kept him in the game until a third strike presented itself.
"The President blew this incident out of proportion. So did President Abraham Lincoln when he fired Gen. George McClellan. So did President Harry S. Truman when he fired Gen. Douglas MacArthur. But policy differences triggered the Lincoln-Truman actions. McClellan and MacArthur personally disliked their Presidents. McChrystal may be in the same boat.
"But he has not publicly challenged Obama on how to win the nine-year war in Afghanistan. So far as we know, the General backed the President on the policy for Afghanistan. The military's role is not to set policy. It is to define and carry out missions. McChrystal and his team were doing this. I would have kept the General in the game for another couple of innings.
What do you think...?
