Wednesday, September 23, 2009

McChrystal Denies Rift With Obama Administration

The rightwing and the media have gone nutso suggesting that the White House and the uniformed military are in a deep divide over Afghanistan.
Far be it for anyone to think about escalating a war before plundering away.
I think we have these rumors because folks on the right see Obama as weak, or at least they want to play it that way, which is rather despicable because it's just politics. Politics. Politics. Politics. No one really cares about solving problems. People are just in the constant pursuit of power. There are some creeps at the Pentagon.
Gen. Stanley McChrystal said the rumors concerned him and he wanted to set the record straight:
General McChrystal said he agreed to speak to The New York Times on Wednesday after he became increasingly concerned about reported rifts between the military and the civilian leadership, and about rumors he was considering resigning if his assessment was not accepted.

The general denied that he had discussed — or even considered — resigning his command, as had been whispered at the Pentagon, saying that he was committed to carrying out whatever mission Mr. Obama ultimately approved.

“I believe success is achievable,” he said. “I can tell you unequivocally that I have not considered resigning at all.”
McChrystal says policy debate is warranted:
The senior American commander in Afghanistan on Wednesday rejected any suggestion that his grim assessment of the war had driven a wedge between the military and the Obama administration, but warned against taking too long to settle on a final strategy.

The commander, Gen. Stanley A. McChrystal, said in an interview that he welcomed the fierce debate that has emerged this week over how to carry out the war.

“A policy debate is warranted,” General McChrystal said in a telephone interview from his headquarters in Kabul.

“We should not have any ambiguities, as a nation or a coalition,” he added. “At the end of the day, we’re putting young people in harm’s way.”

President Obama’s top advisers are rethinking the strategy that Mr. Obama unveiled in March, amid a growing political divide in the United States over how to proceed and confusion among allies with fighting forces in Afghanistan. Read the story at NYT