At least that's what CNN is saying:
Embattled Gen. Stanley McChrystal is meeting with President Barack Obama at this hour -- a meeting that may decide McChrystal's fate in the wake of politically explosive remarks the general and his aides made about key Obama administration officials in Rolling Stone magazine.
The White House has asked the Pentagon to make a list of possible replacements for McChrystal because Obama wants to be ready if he decides to fire the top U.S. commander in Afghanistan, a senior administration official told CNN Wednesday.
McChrystal is unlikely to survive the fallout from the Rolling Stone story, a Pentagon source who has ongoing contacts with the general told CNN earlier.
He will likely resign Wednesday, the source said. Obama was "angry" after reading the general's remarks, White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs said Tuesday.
What's unclear is whom Obama is going to pick as a successor to run his war. I have a feeling that;s a sandwich with a particular aroma that very few people are going to want to take a bite out of. it's also true that out of the US government officials involved, only General McChrystal had anything like a decent relationship with Hamid Karzai.
There's been a lot of talk about getting 'resignations' from Ambassador Eikenberry and Obama's special envoy Richard Holcombe. Possible, but I doubt it.
I'll repeat again what I said yesterday... McChrystal is definitely not stupid. This was basically self-induced career seppuku, a way for him to exit. honorably
There are no 'wins' to be had in Afghanistan, a lot of our warriors on the ground recognize that COIN is a failure there, and that the 'hearts and minds' rules of engagement are causing unnecessary casualties and risking their lives.
By now McChrystal knows COIN is a failure too, but given the dynamics of the Obama Administration and its stake in appeasing the Muslim world, he knew he wasn't going to be able to change what needed to be changed.
It probably got to the point where he was unable to face the troops in the field any more. So he decided on his own exit strategy.
2 comments:
Hopefully this will lead to a new strategy. I reread your suggestions for a new strategy. I think it is much better than the one we are currently using. It seems unclear to me what strategy to use for winning but what is clear is the Taliban is a far more dangerous enemy to America than Nazi Germany or Imperial Japan every were or ever could have been.
While the Taliban is definitely a greater threat to America than Nazi Germany or Imperial Japan ever were or ever could have been, they are not the same as those two enemies that were faced and defeated by the Greatest Generation. As such, the strategies used to defeat the Taliban will probably not be the same as those used to defeat Nazi Germany and Imperial Japan. We had better start figuring out strategies for trying to win.
An excellent place to start is by asking ourselves do we want to try and remain a major world power. If the answer to that question is yes, then our strategies will likely be different than if the answer is no. Also, if the US does want to remain a major world power, this is going to be VERY difficult at this point and maybe impossible. While the other major powers of Russia, China, and India have issues they face, there is no doubt that their leaders wake up every morning thanking whatever god they believe in that the problems their countries face are no where close to the severity of the ones the United States faces.
Before some left wing loon chines in something like "what is winning", I'm going to explain it. I neglected to put in the previous post because it is experential common sense to everyone except leftists and their supporters. Winning, at a minimum, means creating a situation where the Taliban can no longer threaten America or its interests and our forces are able withdraw from Afghanistan and the surrounding area and be absolutely certain that the threat will not rise again once we've departed the region.
How we go from here depends to a large degree on do the American people and ourbleaders want to try and remain a major world power. for example, if the answer is yes, "interests" will be defined more broadly than if the answer is no.
Clearly the most basic goal to winning in Afghanistan has not been achieved yet. If any thing, the enemy is stronger and more cohesive than it was before the attacks of 9/11. In other words, a threat to America that far exceeded the threat posed by Nazi Germany and Imperial Japan on 9/12/01 is now far stronger than it was then.
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