Expected to not like Gen McChrystal. Interview presents him in different light.
I wish to expand on the previous post regarding Ret Gen Stanley McChrystal who was on Morning Joe this A.M. I expected to not like him but he presented himself well. McChrystal was the Gen who resigned in June 2010 as a result of the Rolling Stones Magazine article in which some negative things were reported regarding President Obama by members of his staff.
His comments below as discussed in order presented based on questions asked and not necessarily in order of importance.
1. Title of Book. His book entitled “ Share of the Task is based” is based on phrase from Ranger’s Creed he grew up with and the ethos that each of us has a responsibility to each other, none of us is central, none of us is alone, and each of us has a responsibility for our contribution for our share of the task.
2. Why he wrote it. He wanted to shine a spotlight on the soldiers fighting the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan that reflects his admiration for all they’ve done. They are anonymous to the majority of us. We don’t know them excect that we might see them in an airport, occasionally buying them a meal, etc. They are not in our families, they don’t live in our towns.
3. Reason for Interview with Rolling Stones magazine was to communicate the cause for what they were doing in the war to the people (leadership, parents, members of Afghan leadership, the World, etc), what we were doing, why we were doing it, and how we were operating. Invited the Media from all spectrums to be embedded with them to provide as much transparency as possible. Didn’t want to just include those media who agreed with them and the war. Felt that some of the reporting was unfair nevertheless takes responsibility for it.
4. Cabinet Selection. President has a right to choose members of his cabinet whom he feels comfortable with; do the two of them have a relationship of trust. Trust is the most important aspect (even more than experience) for a cabinet member because the two of them are going to face complex things together in the future that they can’t predict right now, they both have to know that their working with someone whose trust they have.
5. Tremendous and painful lessons to be learned from the two wars. He’s afraid that the leaders of the nation and military (as did after Vietnam) rather than learning from the past, will try and wipe the white board clean rather than take the time to learn from the lessons of the wars. We need to learn the word NO before getting into future wars. The other lesson being we didn’t know enough about Iraq and Afghanistan before we went into both wars, and we were didn’t learn quick enough. We need to learn how to learn more quickly and correct the fastest.
6. Gun Control. Effects of assault weapons on the body are devastating and that is the way they are designed. They have no place on the streets of America. Message to the NRA – we need to look at EVERYTHING to safeguard our people. The number of people killed in America is extraordinary compared to other nations and we need to do something about it. Serious action needs to be taken not just limited actions on the edges.
7. Takes responsibility for Rolling Stones Magazine article because that’s what commanders do and move on. Does not believe media controversy was entirely accurate but he owes the Commander in Chief and the President is still my Commander in Chief and I owe him the responsibility to not put controversy on his desk whether it is my fault or not.
I think he came across as classy, honest and contrite.
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