By accepting Gen. Stanely McChrystal's resignation, President Obama solved one problem: the rancor within his security team caused by McChrystal being a jerk in the pages of Rolling Stone. "I welcome debate among my team, but I won't tolerate division," Mr. Obama said today in the Rose Garden.
Mr. Obama then solved another by tapping CentComm chief Gen. David Petraeus to replace McChrystal in Afghanistan.
We're still left with the biggest problem: America's strategy of counterinsurgency in Afghanistan. Under McChrystal, counterinsurgency led to a surge in coalition casualties. Enter Petraeus, who in 2007 co-authored the Counterinsurgency manual (pdf). The president said today that the strategy remains the same. "Let me say to the American people, this is a change in personnel but it is not a change in policy," he said. "General Petraeus fully participated in our review last fall, and he both supported and helped design the strategy that we have in place."
The nameplates change. The behavior may get more politic. The war grinds on.
We'll have much more about this tonight on the show.
Leave a Comment:
He's a hard man that was doing a hard job. I would have hated to be put in the position of having to judge the General, and I don't envy the President that responsibility.
Bravo Mr. President! For the getting rid of that skunk! But there is so much more than that to be said about what is going on over there. Remind me again what are We doing over there, please?
how could there have been any other answer? Lincoln put up with insubordination from McClellan because he didnt have any other generals that he thought could do as good a job. Obviously we have Petraeus and this isnt McChrystal's first offense. He had to go.
Yes, it is about time, now lets just end the war and get our military home safe/
While the President took the right action by punishing insubordination and removing a man whose ego prevented him from being a team player, I am disturbed that General Petraeus, the master of the surge theory, has been selected as his replacement. I hope that the President will begin to realize the futility of the Afghanistani War and end the waste and bloodshed soon, but by choosing the man who President Bush depended on to make the policy in the Iraq War, this does not seem to be the case.
Agree with the overall consensus here, but I trust Petraeus far more than McChrystal on two crucial counts:
1) The debate and turmoil in President Obama's national security team seems to focus entirely on whether or not Afghanistan is a good idea. While the president and General Petraeus seem in sync now, I think both are also far more open to alternative arguments and substantive debate.
2) More to the point: I think Petraeus has the integrity, intelligence, and dignity to know a lost war when he sees one. I say this from the view that Afghanistan is not yet "lost" by the metric that there's still an opportunity for us to not allow the Taliban to retake control of the entire country, and that Obama did indeed take the "least worst" option. Of course, there's legitimate and fully-fleshed disagreement on this point, but I think it's going too far to consider the entire enterprise absolutely hopeless. Even with military success being, well, nonexistent, there are two hopeful signs:
Oh, and by the way, Afghan army recruitment is impressive: http://terrorism-online.blogspot.com/2010/06/recruiting-may-ease-afghan-forces.html There's naturally a big problem with discipline and competence, but this still strikes me as a good sign - more Afghans are fighting for Karzai's government.
Likewise, note the recent revolt: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/06/20/AR2010062003479.html?nav=hcmodule
Afghan army recruitment is impressive: http://terrorism-online.blogspot.com/2010/06/recruiting-may-ease-afghan-forces.html There's naturally a big problem with discipline and competence, but this still strikes me as a good sign - more Afghans are fighting for Karzai's government.
Likewise, as you noted, the recent revol could yet be a gamechangert: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/06/20/AR2010062003479.html?nav=hcmodule
In short, counter-insurgency is primarily political - the Iraq surge would have failed disastrously had it not been for the Sunni Awakening. (Which, by the way, makes Republican gloating of its success hollow and insipid. Even Petraeus acknowledged the huge risk of catastrophe.) It's possible that the politics of Afghanistan could yet be changed to ensure that enough Afghans will prefer Karzai to the Taliban strongly enough that, given substantive rebuilding and reinvestment (something made more likely by the recent revelation of Afghanistan's bountiful natural resources), we can leave Afghanistan as a dangerous, war-torn, strife-ridden place, yet no longer a failed state.
Now, this isn't to baselessly dismiss pessimism - it's highly probable that Afghanistan is a fool's errand. But I think it's worth waiting for July 2011 to see what President Obama does. It's currently not obvious that the war is lost. If it is by then, but Obama charges ahead, then we know we have a serious problem. As of now, I'm still willing to give the "least bad" option the benefit of the doubt.
Oops, dumb typo: I copied-and-pasted the "Oh, and by the way...likewise, note..." segment twice by accident, but only re-edited the second time. Sorry for the typographical trainwreck :-/
Correct me if I'm wrong...wasn't part of what happened/is happening in Iraq in part due to the Iraqi people basically doing the same thing, turning against al Quieda in Iraq? If so, this could be a good sign that there is at least a light at the end of the tunnel.
You are correct, however, we paid the Iraqi's not to kill our troops and to turn on the insurgents.
Heartbreaking.
Rachel, for a real boots on the ground viewpoint, you could not do better than Michael Yon. Get an interview through
http://www.michaelyon-online.com/how-to-contact-us.htm
Departure of Gen. McChrystal leaves some very important questions are unanswered and here they are;
1) Are we really fighting a rug tug group of terrorists or are we up against an militancy that has the support of Iran, Pakistan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan and Kazakhstan? This is important because we could not win the war in Vietnam, because, according to news media, they were supported and supplied by Communist Chinese and the war in Iraq because insurgents were supported and supplied by Iran and Syria.
2)Would it make sense to demote a 4-star general from a higher command to a lower command or would this make our President appear to be naive in military matters?
3) Would Obama surge in Afghanistan work as intended under the light of the results of Bush surge in Iraq?
4) If we are trying to deny a safe heaven to terrorists in Afghanistan, does this imply that Afghanistan is the only place where terrorists can foster? If not, then the war in terror is going to take us places like Pakistan, Iran and Muslim countries of Central Asia in a vicious circle of war?
5) Has President Obama failed to distinguish himself from the policies of 8 years of Bush Administration in contradiction of his campaign statements while appearing indecisive, unsure and reactionary in terms of taking the country in a new direction?
President's press conference this morning leaves many of us wondering about his leadership style and the quality of advise he is getting from his inner circles.
Good. Now McChrystal can retire, and go bash the Obama Administration on FAUXNewz because he couldn't make his own plan work.
I Hope (Nick LeCompte) is Right= That General Petreaus has the Intelligence and Integrity to Know a Lost War when he Sees one?
I am Also Very Disappointed in his Choice. It Just Seems that America is Being Told Over and Over and Over Again= about a New Timeline of the Troops Removal. When that so-called Deadline Arrives, we are Told of a New Timeline a Year Away. Are We Being Fooled?
I Also think that Robert Gates is Also as Sickening. He does not Give Any Specific Answers on Any Specific Deadlines!
Why Can't we Make the Department of Defense Part of the National Defiicit? If we are Going to Stay in War, I think that All the $ Millions that we are Spending on War should be Publicized, and Part of the National Debt.
The Right Wingers Complain about President Obama's Stimulus , well What About All the Money we Are Spending in the War? That seems to be OK with the Republican Politicians, Why???
Diana
RACHEL!!!
I have a question and I couldn't quite figure out where else to post it but here -
I am watching Chris Matthews and all I hear about is the polls showing dissatisfaction with Obama. HOW ARE POLLS BEING CONDUCTED? WHERE DOES THE INFORMATION COME FROM?
I don't mean to say that I don't understand polling, but I would like some stats as to who the voters are that are answering the polls - are they don't by phone? Do they call only people with landlines? Are they getting information on political opinion from a truly diverse demographic? I am 23 years old, voted for Obama, happen to believe he's doing a good job considering the sh!t storm our country is in, and I'm wondering where the opinions of my generation are. Who is asking the recipients of the future being made now what we think of the decisions being made?
And with everyone asking Obama to kick BP's backside, where is the cry for action from the record numbers of youth who came out to say yes to Obama?
A Republican friend of mine in Tucson said she gets survey questionnaires from Republican sources all the time, and the questions are slanted so it's almost impossible not to answer them the way they want them. Sort of on the order of "Would you support Obama's plan to.....even if it destroys the.....of the nation? She says she just throws them away because she's a thinking Republican and can't abide this sort of tactic.
I and most of my friends have quit watching your higher-than-thou show since you disrespected The President and his decision on the Gulf mess on 7/16. I and most have also written the companies that make those products that sponsor your show and told them we would not buy their products.
As for today, it must be a good thing that your not in the military(for lots of reasons) but today esp since people like you who use the First Amendment to hide behind and show disrespect for those we chose to put in office to run our country. I doubt you will ever have the courage and conviction that we have all seen in President Obama just in the 18 months he has been in office.
You are a reporter and news commentator. Stick to the facts and keep your person BS to yourself while on the national television. What you shoot your mouth off in your blog is your and whose who care to read it. Hope your Mother is proud of the kind of person she raised that thinks she can disrespect the office and the decisions of the leader of the free world.
The cliché "don't let the door hit you in the ass" leaps to mind.
You sound like the Republicans. Blind obedience to Dear Leader! Rah rah rah!
Obama says he welcomes debate. Too bad Laura-409696 and 'most of her friends' do not.
Wow, Laura. As i40West implies, "blind obedience" isn't the way to go, whether that leader is the one you/we voted for or not. I may not necessarily agree with EVERYTHING Rachel says (though I'm liberal, I'm not quite as far left as she is), one of the reasons I respect her so much is that she doesn't hesitate to hold ANYONE'S feet to the fire, not just those of conservatives. Rachel presents more supported, linked, legitimate facts to support what she says than most other commentators do; and when she does editorializing, it's clear as a bell that that's what she's doing.
When we choose not to hear what someone with whom we may disagree is saying, we potentially blind ourselves to ideas--and facts--that we might need in order to make the fullest possible assessment of any given situation.
I don't pretend to be an expert on foreign policy, I just want us out of the war. I have two comments.
First, I hope Vice President Biden told General McChrystal to "bite me" as he left the White House. Second, I wonder when we can expect the disgraced general to begin his job as pundit on fake news.
Also, I believe Rachel's mother and "grammar" should be very proud of her.
This is the place for politics. Don't you think McChrystal just locked up the 2012 Republican VP bid, at least, if he wants it?
Consider: McChrystal knew what he was doing last year and this year calling out the civilians [Obama, Biden, et. al.] as idiots. He fell on his sword for 'his truth' - uncmopromisingly. He got out of a failing war soon enough to say 'If only they'd listened to me' when the ugly end comes. He drinks Bud Light Lime. All he needs is a pick up truck.
"Winning" in Afghanistan is impossible. It is the "Graveyard of Empires". And we entered this as a False Flag Operation of Imperialism.
The Runaway General Stanley McChrystal http://ow.ly/21MIb#Runaway #General #Stanley #McChrystal #military #hubris #false #flag #corrupted
The Military is supposed to SERVE the People...not using people for THEIR wars. The Military CLEARLY shows their DISDAIN for "public" authority.
911 MUST be "outed".
This is that "Republican Branding Platform Moment" of HONESTY breaking through...
Only...it applies to our Military...the DEEP HEART n SOUL of 'our' Military.
If NO-ONE learns this lesson...then our future as a species outlook is indeed bleaker than the oil that is running through our views like a bad 'X-Files' of the 'oil' as it invades our bodies and changes our eyes and viewpoint on the universe.
When the First Responders, Miltary Heroes, Honest Humans willing to speak BRUTAL TRUTH to the "seed" of our current post 911 psyche come forth...you MUST NOT back away.
This cannot be allowed to happen if our republic is to remain free. Even you MUST see the hypocrisy's of Bush/Obama in policy.
Obama is Bush graduating from high school. From the Kindergarten classroom of Bush photo op to Obama behind Military in Gulf Coast Oil Disaster.
Same people, prostitutes, peddlers, pimps, props, policy, prattling, political pigeon poop.
"Crime, once exposed, has no refuge but in audacity." Cornelius Tacitus
"The first war crime committed in any war of aggression by the aggressors is against the truth" - Michael Parenti
Political language. . . is designed to make lies sound truthful and murder respectable, and to give an appearance of solidity to pure wind: George Orwell
We create our own future by our own beliefs, which control our actions. A strong enough belief system, a sufficiently powerful conviction, can make anything happen. This is how we create our consensus reality, including our gods. - DUNE Reverend Mother Ramallo, Sayyadina of the Fremen
“Ideas are far more powerful than guns. We don’t allow our enemies to have guns, why should we allow them to have ideas?” - Joseph Stalin
The capacity to learn is a gift;
The ability to learn is a skill;
The willingness to learn is a choice. - Rebec of Ginaz DUNE
http://patriotsquestion911.com/
ALL ROADS LEAD BACK TO GROUND ZERO
Why are veterans, active duty, and National Guard men and women opposed to the war in Iraq?
http://www.ivaw.org/faq#11
http://www.freespeech.org/category/tags/afghanistan-veterans-against-war
http://www.mfso.org/article.php?id=1386
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wesley_Clark
http://www.firstprinciplespress.org/pages/colonel.htm
http://www.edmitchellapollo14.com/
http://stj911.org/
http://pilotsfor911truth.org/
http://www.physics911.net/georgenelson
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ann_Wright
http://militaryweek.com/columns/kwiatkowski.php
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iEuJimaumW4
WTC Building 7 was 610 feet tall, 47 stories. It would have been the tallest building in 33 states. Although it was not hit by an airplane, it completely collapsed into a pile of rubble in less than 7 seconds at 5:20 p.m. on 9/11, seven hours after the collapses of the Twin Towers. However, no mention of its collapse appears in the 9/11 Commission's "full and complete account of the circumstances surrounding the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks." Watch the collapse video above. To date, many years after 9/11, the Federal government has yet to publish its promised final report that explains the cause of its collapse.
Reality MUST be Truthful to be Useful
Better to listen to the wind through a creosote bush than to waste time with the words of a fool. - Heinar, Naib of Red Wall Sietch
And if one refuses to listen to words of truth and hope, who then is the greater fool? - Planetologisst Pardot Kynes DUNE
Brutal Truth Flat Facts Reality...breathe in breathe out...get used to it.
In a technological culture, progress may be viewed as the attempt to move more quickly into the future, rushing to make known the unknown. - Mother Superior Harishka DUNE
Exotic Energy requires a shake from a Dead Dinosaur Mindset.
http://www.archive.org/details/DavidSereda-DifferentialsCropCirclesAndAnti-gravity
REALLY OLD TECH...NOT being used:
Clean, Green, Renewable, Taxable, and thousands of uses besides BEST Ethanol EVER !!!
And...can be used as material to MANUFACTURE automobiles HERE in the United States:
http://relegalize.info/hemp/08-organic-biofuel.shtml
Bob
http://mycommonsensepolitics.net/
now I have a 3 hr vid conference with a Canadian Friend...a DIFFERENT viewpoint.
How constrained is your world view?
Dude, you are totally and completely talking my language! We need to get through to Rachel. Do you hear me, Rachel?????? Please, please, please do some real investigative journalism here. The best, most accurate and most reliable scientific information on this subject may be found at the web site of Architects and Engineers for 9/11 Truth, ae911truth.org. There you will also see a petition currently signed by move than 1200 architecture and engineering professionals, mostly Americans, who are putting their professional careers on the line to call for an honest and open investigation into 9/11. The founder of this organization is Richard Gage, A.I.A. (American Institute of Architects). He is an architect with decades of experience in steel frame building construction. You can find a link to his presentation, “Blueprint for Truth: the Architecture of Destruction” along with other informative links at http://cms.ae911truth.org/index.php/evidence.html. You can find the original scientific paper describing the discovery of the nanothermite in the dust, Active Thermitic Material Discovered in Dust from the 9/11 World Trade Center Catastrophe by Niels H. Harrit, Jeffrey Farrer, Steven E. Jones, and others, and other very high quality scientific papers at http://cms.ae911truth.org/index.php/evidence/35-key-facts/73-technical-articles.html.
Rachel, you are smart. You can read these technical papers and understand them. You can contact their authors and interview them. These facts must come to the attention of the American people. Rachel, you already have the best political show on TV, and your are in a unique position to save your country if you will follow up on this.
Why not? GE or no GE, don't you think Rachel has the best interests of the country at heart? Sure, they would fire her, but she would go out in a blaze of glory. That's better than being a subservient whore, isn't it? I'm sure you agree, don't you Rachel?
Sometimes you just have to stand up for what's right and damn the self-interested political calculations. Same goes for President Obama, who I still support, by the way, in spite of everything.
I would say that Rachel believes government is SUPPOSED to be "of, by and for the people" but that it has been largely taken over by banks, oil companies, "defense" contractors and the like, and she is doing the best she can by her lights to take our government back. I agree with her on this, and I think that those who give up on the idea of representative democracy, as you seem to have done, are just playing into their hands. But I do understand why you feel this way. Politics is such a dirty business and it sometime seems that any involvement at all, however well-intentioned, just makes things worse.
Rachel, though I love you and love your show, what did you receive your PhD in again? On your show of Wed 06/23/10 you talked about Gen. McChrystal's comments and quoted the Uniform Code of Military Justice. You cited a section of the Code then commented that you didn't know why the Secy of Transportation was included. Really? You didn't know that although the US Coast Guard is considered a branch of the US Military Services, until 2003 the Coast Guard was under the aegis of the Dept. (and Secy) of Transportation? In 2003 your buddy Bush 43 transferred them to the Dept. of Homeland Security (and to the Dept. of the Navy in war time. Obviously th Code wasn't updated. An old Viet Nam draft dodger with only a Masters Degree.
On Rachel's show she asked why the Secretary of Transportation was listed under Article 88 of the UCMJ. The UCMJ applies to Midshipmen at the US Merchant Marine Academy which is run by the Maritime Administration of DOT. It is also left over from when US Coast Guard was part of DOT, seems that Article 88 has not been updated since DHS took over USCG.
The U.S. Coast Guard reports to the Transportation Department. Before that it reported to Treasury.
Gee How is that COIN working out in Iraq for ya?
http://usliberals.about.com/od/homelandsecurit1/a/IraqNumbers.htm
http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE65C13T20100613
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/02/03/AR2010020300415.html
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/24/world/middleeast/24briefs-Iraq.html
Obama is Bush graduating from high school. From the Kindergarten classroom of Bush photo op to Obama behind Military in Gulf Coast Oil Disaster.
Same people, prostitutes, peddlers, pimps, props, policy, prattling, political pigeon poop.
"Crime, once exposed, has no refuge but in audacity." Cornelius Tacitus
Rachel, you propose that McChrystal's replacement places the current COIN stategy in doubt, publicly. But as you note, his replacement is the guy who wrote the book, who authored the strategy. Is it not more a case of the particular choice of Petraeus being a clear indication of commitment top-down to the strategy, because the new guy to implement it is the pro, the domain expert, the guy who wrote the manual, who, details of surge aside, made it happen in Iraq (including with the Sunni awakening councils etc.) ?
If Obama's choice had been almost anyone else, it would have reflected lack of clarity and commitment to the COIN plan on the administration's part. Petraeus getting the job says to me that the administration is backing up its statement that this is about personnel, and not policy, because they're putting the guy who knows how to do that policy best on the job.
And meanwhile a 5.0 EarthQuake struck north of Toronto where the G8/G20 et all will meet after the Bildebirgers met last weekend, the players are in ever revolving treadmill of war and subversion without remembering, nor realizing or caring to ask...how did... I/we....get ON this treadmill in the first place.
http://commonsensecentral.blogspot.com/2010/06/remains-of-72-people-found-at-world.html
Yes Yesterday on June 23, 2010 they are still finding, and identifying, murder victims in the WTC dust, along with nano-thermite and other factual evidence appearing since the "complete report" was issued.
The Census Motto applies to President Obama, Congress, Supreme Court, Military and ALL Government: We cannot move forward until the COUNTRY looks back at 911. How we got here is MORE important than just blindly going forward. It IS in our collective National Security Interest NOT to let a proven lie stand as an "official record" of that terrible day. Like the warning we now KNOW the White House had before the earlier Pearl Harbor of WWII. The Gulf of Tonkin Incident as a False Flag ops to get the Vietnam War going. Actual PROOF of a "Secret Goverment". We can't wait, and do not NEED to wait, to discover the Brutal Truth of "...a new Pearl Harbor" September 11, 2001 and the Progress for New American Century members. Robert Williams
Bob
Anyone else think McChrystal did it for a book deal? You just know he'll write one and this drama would seem to help it sell. Plus I bet he gets booked a bunch on Fox when he retires.
Another reason I wonder about this is when you read McChrystal's resume, it's quite impressive and that makes it harder for me to believe someone with his background would be so stupid as to talk to a member of the press and blatantly insult the president and his administration during wartime, while the president is having problems back home. Book deal or not, I believe there's a whole other side to this that nobody has heard yet. I think he wanted to get fired.
Everyone's been assuming McChrystal's ego and arrogance led to his "mistake." But what if he's decided his efforts in Afghanistan are going to fail, and rather than facing that, he found a way to leave before the stuff hits the fan?
He may be the smartest military tactician in the room, but he has completely failed in the mission to build up local administrative and political competence. He's also failed to keep our Nato allies engaged.
So perhaps he's not as stupid as he's being portrayed, and allowing the reporter in was deliberate. This way, he remains a hero in his troops' eyes, and it doesn't look like he is deserting them. The whole thing averts attention from his inability to make the strategy succeed.
Perhaps the country is fortunate. Petreaus has not only outstanding military skills but diplomatic skills as well. We'll finally find out whether the strategy can succeed.
Select your battles carefully. Ultimately, victory and defeat are a matter of your own careful – or reckless – choices. - Tlaloc, Weakness of the Empire
There are some men who refuse to accept defeat under any circumstances. Will history judge them heroes, or fools? - Emperor Shaddam IV, Revised Official Imperium History (draft) DUNE
McChrystal got while the gettin was good. His name won't be in the list of those to 'blame' in this period of 'war'.
As stated elsewhere...look for another Media Minion Masticating Mush
Bob