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Obama should have said simply that insubordination in the ranks cannot be tolerated and that McChrystal, while a brave and patriotic soldier, had to be removed as an example of the consequences of insubordination. Instead, Obama denied that he decided to remove McChrystal because of the critical comments about him and his staff in Rolling Stone. Instead, he said that the decision was meant to reinforce the need for “unity of effort” in carrying out the current war strategy in Afghanistan.
The underlying problem is Obama’s flawed war strategy, which McChrystal helped to design. We are trying to prop up an incredibly corrupt government in Afghanistan. We are shifting the risk of the war from the Taliban to our troops because of severe restrictions on the use of airstrikes, guided rocket attacks, and artillery needed to protect our troops on the ground. Not surprisingly, these restrictions are causing severe morale problems for our soldiers who have to fight insurgents unencumbered by any rules of war at all. While General Patraeus’ more seasoned judgment may result in easing of some of the most rigid rules of engagement that General McChrystal had enforced, the underlying strategy of winning the “hearts and minds” of the Afghan people by avoiding the possibility of civilian casualties at all cost, even at the risk of greater danger to our troops, will remain in place.
Compounding these restrictions is the arbitrary deadline that Obama has set for our withdrawal from Afghanistan. As Senator John McCain said on Greta Van Susteren’s “On The Record”:
The president has stated and continues to repeat that we’ll be leaving in the middle of next year. We cannot win if our enemies are emboldened by the knowledge that we are leaving, no matter what, and our friends are discouraged… The president needs to say unequivocally that it is based on conditions, withdrawal is based on conditions and nothing else, not on an artificial date.
Will President Obama listen to someone who knows about the ravages of war and the consequences of our mistakes in Vietnam first-hand? I doubt it. It is more likely that Obama will remind Senator McCain that the presidential campaign is over, as he did during the health care debate.
