I’m not saying that General McChrystal did nothing wrong.
His comments were clearly inappropriate. But if there is
anyone who should be able to get away with such
comments, it’s General McChrystal. Not only because he puts his
life on the line every single day for the American people, but
because we need him. The President has said that his
decision to accept the General’s resignation is not personal, yet
he accepted it anyway.
But if it wasn’t personal, what other reason is
there?
The only other possible person to lead the war in
Afghanistan was General Petraeus, and the President knows that.
But what signal is he sending by selecting him?
General Petraeus, after all, is the general that President
Obama vehemently criticized when he was running for President. He
continually said what a poor job our leaders had done in Iraq,
but that Afghanistan was a war worth fighting.
General Petraeus is a general that liberals have been more
than displeased with for a long time.
In late 2007, the liberal MoveOn.org published a
full-page ad in the New York Times that said “General
Betray Us,” featuring, of course, an enormous picture of General
Petraeus.
Largely, no one supported this ad disparaging a courageous
man who has put everything on the table — including his life —
to protect us here at home. Even during the presidential
election, then-Senator Hillary Clinton rushed to Washington to
vote in favor of a resolution condemning MoveOn.org for the
ad.
Barack Obama also rushed to Washington. He voted that week.
But he was conspicuously absent from the vote to condemn
MoveOn.org. The resolution passed 72 to 25, with overwhelming
Democratic support, but without the support of this
President.
Missing votes while you’re running for President happens
all the time, but Senator Obama was in Washington and
his opponent, Senator Clinton, made the vote.
It is clear that the President does not like General
Petraeus. It is clear that the President does not think General
Petraeus did a good job in Iraq. But he selected him anyway
because General McChrystal took his ego down a
notch.
Ego is what determined the fate of General McChrystal. No
matter what the President says, it is ego and ego alone.
While there may be a situation where a military commander
should resign for comments such as General McChrystal’s in
Rolling Stone, this is not it. We need him more than the
President needs an ego boost. And we need General Petraeus as the
commander of U.S. Central Command. We have enough problems at
home, let’s not make our military efforts abroad a problem
again.
Of all that is happening in the world this very instant,
ego is the least of the President’s problems.
