Corporate boards, consulting, speaking fees: How U.S. generals thrived after Afghanistan

[Nevilledog]

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Isaac Stanley-Becker
@isaacstanbecker
NEW- Stanley McChrystal built a corporate empire in the years after he was dismissed as the top general in Afghanistan, making millions from businesses, governments and universities

I wrote about how

Corporate boards, consulting, speaking fees: How U.S. generals thrived after Afghanistan
Stanley A. McChrystal exemplifies how ex-generals sell their battlefield experience in other arenas, from corporations to covid-19 response.
washingtonpost.com
6:04 AM · Sep 4, 2021

https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2021/09/04/mcchrystal-afghanistan-navistar-consulting-generals/

When Stanley A. McChrystal was the top general in Afghanistan, he would ask his troops a question: “If I told you that you weren’t going home until we win — what would you do differently?”

McChrystal recalls that question in his 2015 management manual, “Team of Teams: New Rules of Engagement for a Complex World,” which says his wartime leadership techniques can guide organizations far from the battlefield toward “successful mission completion.”

The failure of the American mission in Afghanistan became deadly apparent last month when the Afghan army collapsed as the Taliban took control.

But the generals who led the mission — including McChrystal, who sought and supervised the 2009 American troop surge — have thrived in the private sector since leaving the war. They have amassed influence within businesses, at universities and in think tanks, in some cases selling their experience in a conflict that killed an estimated 176,000 people, cost the United States more than $2 trillion and concluded with the restoration of Taliban rule.

*snip*

[Mr.Bill]

1. Politicians have been doing this for years.

Why else would anyone spend tens of millions of dollars on a campaign to get a six figure job?

[stillcool]

2. think it's that revolving door thing..

especially within certain industries.

[Ron Green]

3. No one in military uniform has protected our "freedom"

in my lifetime. It’s to protect international capital and prop up friendly regimes.