NBC’s Richard Engel: Yup, McChrystal pretty much summed up how the troops feel
When I heard Engel would be on with Matthews, I couldn’t wait to watch, Now in Afghanistan, Engel has been part of this Operation since 2003. He has seen it all and likely knows the Generals and the soldiers better than they do themselves.
That gives Engel a lot of credibility in my book. So when he told Chris Matthews, yeah, what McChrystal said. The money line here: The feeling here is that Obama just is not engaged and seems disinterested in the war.
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Rh4viCkoLQ
Here are some of the things McChrystal said about Obama and the gang (from Hot Air):
The general first encountered Obama a week after he took office, when the president met with a dozen senior military officials in a room at the Pentagon known as the Tank. According to sources familiar with the meeting, McChrystal thought Obama looked “uncomfortable and intimidated” by the roomful of military brass. Their first one-on-one meeting took place in the Oval Office four months later, after McChrystal got the Afghanistan job, and it didn’t go much
better. “It was a 10-minute photo op,” says an adviser to McChrystal. “Obama clearly didn’t know anything about him, who he was. Here’s the guy who’s going to run his fucking war, but he didn’t seem very engaged. The Boss was pretty disappointed.”
According to that same article, the General didn’t have use for political Afghanistan drive bys:
Team McChrystal likes to talk shit about many of Obama’s top people on the diplomatic side. One aide calls Jim Jones, a retired four-star general and veteran of the Cold War, a “clown” who remains “stuck in 1985.” Politicians like McCain and Kerry, says another aide, “turn up, have a meeting with Karzai, criticize him at the airport press conference, then get back for the Sunday talk shows. Frankly, it’s not very helpful.”
It’s really disturbing news. The Afghanistan War is not going well, and victory means that both civilian and military be on the same page and dedicated to victory. Apparently, the troops feel their Commander In Chief is not. Engel knows these guys and he didn’t mince words because it was a Chris Matthews interview. My guess is Matthews won’t be having Engel on any time soon.
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Our enemies laugh at him, our allies are insulted by him, the American people are increasingly appalled by him, private business loathes him, and the troops are disgusted by him. The list of his admirers is no doubt as interesting.
This ability of Øbama to pull the rug out from under so many facets of our society in so little time has to be some kind of new record.
Why is it that any criticism is an "attack"? Directed at anyone, nonetheless, not just the President. How about, "Let's take a look at some of the complaints the General had."
McChrystal was chosen by the last administration and never accepted the his new Commander-In-Chief. He was insubordinate from day 1. Remember the "demand" for more troops?
Demand? No one elected Stanley-he was out of control. He should have been fired then.
This is all just a blessing in disguise. Rep Alan Grayson said that maybe, just maybe now we can do what is right for America, "not what is right for the generals, Halliburton, or Blackwater. Not what is right for the military industial complex. But rather, what is right for us."
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I agree Chris …..this behavior is not what we expect from a General, he should resign immediately.
Obama is still our president ,if you don't agree with him at least respect that fact.We can't all be Rush Limbaugh, conservative on his fourth wife and no military service .
Obama inherited this idiotic war …a war that should never have been entered into from the beginning.
McCrystal has a job to do regardless of who is President. Did he step out of the chain of command with his comments – yes. But he spoke truth. Should he resign? Only if Harry " We've lost the war" Reid does so first. McCrystal should stand on principle, his oath and the Constitution until the bitter end.
IF the mission was originally Taliban, then that is what it should still be. Not nation building, not exploiting minerals for lining political supporter's pockets. IF this has been a false enemy from the start, shame on the executive branch and Congress.
This is starting to smell like Vietnam.
At that point, the US Military took alot of heat that Congress should have taken. Let's not make that mistake again.
Don't let facts get in the way of your Boosh Bashing, McChrystal was appointed by Obama after Obama fired David McKiernan who was appointed by Bush.
McChrystal never accepted Obama? He voted for him!
LOL! That's right! Talk about buyer's remorse! And did he actually use the word "demand"? I would like to see that quote. As for Afghanistan, this is the war that the lefties agreed was the "real" war. Bush effectively "won" Iraq, and any losses in Afghanistan are Øbama's only, and a war that the lefties found justifiable.
Rep. Alan Grayson? Don't make me laugh! What a loon, which is apparently a resume enhancer for lefties.
The hallmark of this administration has been flailing when it hasn't been incompetent, and then only when it hasn't been corrupt.
You can always tell that Rush is effective when the lefties lamely attack him. Fourth marriage? Sure, you think he would learn, but that is his choice. Didn't serve? Yep, and neither did Øbambi. Who is the alleged CIC? Øbama has zero military experience, zero economic experience, zero executive experience. But hey, I should be wringing my hands over Rush's fourth marriage. LOL! Howls of derisive laughter!
The young President would rather battle the Tea Party than the Taliban! I am disgusted that we are again sending our Troops to a War without giving them the means to win. And win what? As Engel says there is no goal! General McChrystal is my hero. The Emperor wears no clothes.
Many question: Should General McCrystal resign? The question should be: Should Barack Obama resign?
Huge fan here of Richard Engel. Courageous, astute and great journalist. Whether McChrystal was right or wrong in his assessment, Rolling Stone is not a suitable venue to express it. It sounds like he was at the end of his tether and so frustrated with politicians in general – and the administration in particular – that he just showed incredibly poor judgement. Had he made these criticisms in a more formal manner, they would have found much more credibility. A shame he didn't – now he's just become another target for the press.
Absolutely correct…….why such a juvenile expression ……in a juvenile magazine.To me this shows extremely poor judgment .Our president is still our president …he's not a talk show host .Obama should be afforded a respect that comes with the office.We can all disagree with his particular actions but it should be done in a civil respectful way .Talk show hosts in general can distort the truth and spew vile garbage to the unwitting public.It's so iunteresting to me that Rush,Hannity.Beck,Gingrich have never spent a day in the military and yet they can promote wars in Iraq And Afghanistan where thousands die ??? This is the height of hypocrisy.
The real question is: why is Øbama reading Rolling Stone when he can't find the time to read the Arizona immigration law, or even his own hallmark health care insurance "reform" bill? Yes, juvenile is the operating word.
Øbambi has to earn respect. You can respect the office, but the man has a long way to go, here and abroad.
Again the attack on conservative radio talk show hosts. What about Matthews and the rest? Is it not "distort(ing) the truth and spew(ing) vile garbage to the unwitting public" when it is a lefty? Or worse, the laughingly "objective" mainstream media? How many minutes have they or Øbama spent in the military? Should they all recuse themselves to suit your rules? Just to be fair, of course.
Somehow this got diverted into a discussion on talk show hosts – good grief! The important thing now is for there to be a "grown-up" assessment of the state of the war in Afghanistan so there can be a mature debate concerning the vision and execution of that "war." If Obama has ANY real commitment to bringing the troops home WITH SUCCESS as the end-point, then he should ignore the "insults" and petty name-calling, and honestly examine the issues behind the comments of McChrystal and his aides. The war against Al-Q'aida should not be a political issue, but a national one.
I'm with you, Gillie! Some people just have to reflexively attack the highly popular Rush. We have known that Øbambi is thin skinned from the day he whined about someone writing about his big ears. It is really just a basic insecurity he has about himself. It might explain why he won't release any of his SAT's, LSAT's or college transcripts. You don't hide what you are proud of.
Given bad information, even a genius will make a bad decision. Given good information and ignoring it is arrogant, ignorant and dangerous.
Like most common sense Americans, McChrystal has seen enough of this BS.
First of all I'm conservative ,I'm not a Lefty , so don't paint me with that brush.But then again that's the right wing style,lump someone into a category ,easier to hate.
George Bush got us into Afghanistan back in 2001, The Russians had already left after losing 15000 men,so here we are…In august of 2009 Conservative George Will called for a complete withdrawal of US forces.This is not a Lefty war but rather a Republican slop heap that keeps destroying lives , that's the problem I have with this war.As far as Rush is concerned he "talks the tough talk but doesn't walk the walk" as it were….Bs is still Bs and this hypocrite is one of the worst there is.Remember he said 20 billion from BP was a slush fund…yeah poor BP ……even Liz Cheney and Bill Oreilly think it's a reasonable start.Again I have voted Republican in the past but really can't stomach any more of this crap.
Actually, a little thing called 9/11 got us into Afghanistan. Even the lefties agree with that (which you say you aren't, of course). And yes, we probably should get out if the Øbama administration insists on running the war like a police action instead of a military action. Tying soldier's arms behind their backs (figuratively speaking) only results in more deaths and a prolonged war. The surge in Iraq proved that, which, we must note, Øbama was strongly against. Øbama is CIC: he "won". He can pull the troops whenever he wants, yet he prefers to keep screwing up.
As for "lumping someone into a category, (making him/her) easier to hate", that is the playbook of the Democrats: "stupid Bush", "bad America", "bigoted conservative", "racist" (if you dare to criticize Øbama). You get the picture. What are the conservatives lumping people into? Socialists? Liberals? If it walks like a duck…..
As for your private war against Rush, does one have to have participated in something to critique it? Can I condemn rape although I have never been raped (or a woman, for that matter)? Should Øbama be allowed to be CIC with no military experience, or is he a hypocrite? BS is what issues forth from Øbama's mouth each day. With Rush, you have the power to turn him off. We don't get that with Øbama. Limbaugh uses the left's own words and actions against them. He has the decency to tell you up front what his political orientation is. But not Øbama. He lied his way into office, and he has broken almost every "promise" he has made, and those he has not, will break America.
UNREAL! Speak the truth and get fired? Obama is a big baby. I admire McChrystal. Obama has the balls to send thousands of our men & women in uniform over seas, to put their lives in harms way every day. Is everyone going to watch what they say now about him so they don't lose their positions. I can't wait till Obama is voted OUT of office. What a scam…………….He is a joke!
Today McChrystal, and some other people who love him (see above), found out who the boss is, and it's not McChrystal!!
You mean George Soros?
This is crazy…Rep. Bob Etheridge can push and "strangle" a kid on the street for asking a simple question and he's not thrown out of Congress or forced to resign…because he "had a bad day." BUT General McChrystal voices his frustration with some negativity and anger about how Obama isn't engaged in this war and they want him to RESIGN!?! Gee, ya think Gen. McChrystal might have been having a bad day or two?? Oh well…he's only worried about things like keeping his men alive and America's safety…trivial stuff like that!!
General McChrystal is a true warrior. Politicians cannot handle nor understand the true warrior spirit. We don't care about politics; we care about the task at hand. Destroy, decapitate, and demoralize the enemy by any and all means possible. Violent force of action, that is what wins wars. Politicians declare war and then constrain the military leadership from doing their job. Then when the military leadership calls it like it is, they get rid of them. Just one day I would like to see our President (Man-child Obama and all the other knucklehead Congressmen) walk in the shoes of our front line troops. But they the privileged will never do this because they cannot comprehend the very existence of the warrior and by walking in our shoes will have to admit that the warrior is much needed in this world. I salute the McChrystals of the world, and am proud of my fellow brother and sisters who walk that line and fight with one hand tied behind their backs because of politics.
General McCrystal KNEW that he was seeing Vietnam all over again when President Barak Obama and the Democrats want to run the war in Afghanistan from both Washington D.C. and the White House. Also knew it would end his military career, but also realized that he did not want to see another Vietnam.
My gosh. Can you name a president that wouldn't have fired McC. for flapping his lips in the pop culture press? What bothers me the most is the "Obama wrong, now and forever" mentality. If you convince enough people of that you'll get a different president next time with the same target on his back. Only the critics will be diferent. And what we'll have, like always, is the usual corporate sabotaging of the will and best interests of the electorate. Turn off the hate. Do some independent investigation about what your party/candidates do for the support of big corporations, and decide for yourself whether you like it. You may find that when Libs and Conservatives fight so viciously, corporate interests get a free pass and we get the business; as usual.
I agree David, McCrystal is a great general …but to locker room bitch is too much.I know Obama is responsible for this war even though he didn't start it…..this is the albatross that he inherited .We should not be in Afghanistan at 5.4 billion per month and countless lives being lost. The real nucleus of this problem is in Pakistan.So again shaky intelligence gets us involved in two wars we shouldn't even be in.As far as politics is concerned people have to understand that the Republicans will be no better than the Democrats.if anyone thinks that the Republicans will come in and everything will change is a moron.All they'll do is cut taxes for the rich and stick their noses further up corporate buts.Oh and let's not forget about their moral turpitude i.e. Senator Larry Craig, Michael Duvall from Yorba Linda Ca , et. al.We are in trouble and the Republicans won't help.