The McChrystal beat down!

I wanted to finish reading the Rolling Stone article http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/news/17390/119236
before I made any comments on the McChrystal situation. Having done so now, I would like to pose this question to you: How do you keep at it year in and year out? Eighteen hour days (sometimes probably a lot longer), seven days a week for years on end – just how do you keep the momentum to live a life like this?

Have you ever been a General? Have you ever been a Lieutenant or a Captain or a Major or a Colonel for that matter? I have held a few of those ranks and know what the days//weeks//months turn into after a period of time. It’s not pretty and it’s not something that those who don’t have the right make-up would never be able to hold up to – not even a little bit. This is just what is facing Gen McChrystal and Gen Petraeus and their staffs and have been now for some nine years ongoing.

The President said in the Rose Garden after accepting Gen McChrystal’s resignation today: He had “great respect” for the General who had “earned a reputation” as a fighter. But the “war is bigger than any one man or woman” and the “conduct did not meet the standard of a Commanding General” and it “erodes the trust.’ There has to be a “adherence to a strict code of conduct.” We have to “hold ourselves accountable “ to a “unity of effort across the national security team.” Overall this will be “a change in personnel, not a change in policy.”

Both Gen McChrystal and senior members of his staff said things (as quoted in Rolling Stone) that are totally inappropriate for members of the military to utter to anyone, especially after having sworn the oath that each has done. It was out of line and they deserve what comes their way.

This was not a case of McChrystal against the administration. This is all about the oath of office that they swore to.

Remember what Charles de Gaulle once said: “The graveyards are full of indispensable men.”

To me it’s black and white. Make up your own mind:

The Oath of Office (for officers):

"I, _____ (SSAN), having been appointed an officer in the Army of the United States, as indicated above in the grade of _____ do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign or domestic, that I will bear true faith and allegiance tot he same; that I take this obligation freely, without any mental reservations or purpose of evasion; and that I will well and faithfully discharge the duties of the office upon which I am about to enter; So help me God."

The Oath of Enlistment (for enlistees):

"I, _____, do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; and that I will obey the orders of the President of the United States and the orders of the officers appointed over me, according to regulations and the Uniform Code of Military Justice. So help me God."