Obama will not fire McChrystal. Obama will not force his resignation.

[Karmadillo]

I will be happy if I'm wrong, but I simply can't see the Obama administration having the courage to do either.

The situation in Afghanistan is not good. If McChrystal is forced out, the center & right, like a dog to vomit, will return to the stab in the back argument to explain our eventual defeat. If only McChrystal had been allowed to stay, they will deceitfully argue, we would have won. If only Obama hadn't folded and given in to the left and betrayed our troops by getting rid of the very general the administration had previously said was essential to the success of our efforts in Afghanistan, we would not have suffered this humiliating setback. The attack will find significant support from an American populaced conditioned by years of "support our troops no matter what" propaganda to accept our imperial campaigns and their immoral collateral damage without question. Who are you going to believe? A bunch of corrupt politicians or the leader of our hard fighting troops? It's hard to see the bipartisanship obsessed Obama administration wanting to leave itself open to this kind of attack with midterms approaching and a fragile economic "recovery" threatening to end.

McChrystal is going to come out of this unscathed. I think he did this on purpose to put some distance between himself and our eventual defeat. It's those wimps in the White House that took us down. It's not the troops. We could have won if we had had the civilian leadership we deserved. This is, of course, bogus, but it doesn't take much imagination to see it working. Americans have been well-trained by the corporations and their handmaidens on the right and in the 24/7 media to "understand" McChrystal's frustration with those incompetents in Washington, DC.

Again, I hope I'm wrong. An emboldened military leadership and an elected government that doesn't call it on the carpet when necessary is creating conditions that endanger an already endangered democracy.

[tekisui]

1. You couldbe right.

I could see it going any of a few ways.

[cwydro]

2. Me too.

Obama has yet another big mess on his hands.

[RUMMYisFROSTED]

19. Yep. Either he'll do it or he won't.

:D

[SpiralHawk]

22. Or you could be a Nattering Nabob of Negativity

so often the prophet's fate.

[flyarm]

3. the time to have replaced him was day one..it was not done.

day late dollar short.

[amborin]

28. +100 McCrystal was out of control early on, discussing policy in London....

[ShamelessHussy]

39. ???

Obama fired the former head of afghan. this was Obama's replacement.

[MineralMan]

4. You know, I think I'm going to wait and see what President

Obama does. And what do you mean by "wimps in the White House?"

[flyarm]

8. go read the story...

[BeFree]

10. wimps in the wh

That's what McC claimed. And the OP clearly was referencing the future republican message.

[joeybee12]

5. I hope you're wrong, because if he doesn't, he will really look weak...n/t

[AndyA]

6. The headline on MSNBC.com says Obama is furious with McChrystal.

I don't know what to think. I have no idea what Obama will do, but he will come across as a weak leader if he doesn't do something.

Time will tell, I suppose, but I think a fresh perspective in Afghanistan might be a good thing about now. McChrystal was put in place by Bush to do what Bush (or Cheney) wanted done, and the goal was to keep the war going. It might be good to at least replace McChrystal.

[flyarm]

12. this is the pig who covered up the Pat Tillman killing! he should never have been kept!

this is the pig who ran torture jails..

he should never have been kept.

And those of us who spoke up about it at the time ..were called haters!

Now he has slammed the Potus big time..

...NOW...there is anger and the same people who maligned others here are calling for his firing?????????? and have their panties in a twist...NOW..just now!!

[rusty fender]

7. I agree

Obama will do nothing. As we have seen, Obama has only kowtowed to the military, not stood up to it.

[spanone]

36. i disagree.

[piratefish08]

9. I hope I'm wrong too, but I have a feeling they will hug it out in the spirit of looking forward....

[jgraz]

20. Another "Beer Summit"

:banghead:

[humbled_opinion]

11. Look the bottom line is this ....

If the Gen can't win this unwinnable war then Obama should use this opportunity to end the nightmare. You get few chances to undo mistakes and it was a serious mistake to sent 30K more troops to the meat grinder of Afghanistan. Obama can still come out on top with this.

[Mimosa]

13. Afghanistan may be unwinnable

Whether McChrystal is right or wrong, he got caught saying what he shouldn't have said to the press. I understand where the frustration comes from. It's going on 10 years of war in the area and things aren't looking up.

[WeDidIt]

14. Obama should personally fire him

As Truman did with MacArthur and as Lincoln did with McClellen.

Then Petraeus should convene an Article 32 hearing to determine if McChrystal should face charges in courts martial for insubordination.

[zeemike]

15. Well I hope I am wrong too.

Because I think he will do nothing too but for different reasons....Obama does not control the military.
The Oligarch do and should Obama try to control them they have all kinds of tools to deal with that.

[loudsue]

21. That's the point: Ours is not a civilian-run government. Ours is a military industrial government.

The military industrial complex is our ruler, not a figurehead of a president. The congress is already purchased, to continue funding the military industrial government. SCOTUS recently institutionalized it.

[Quezacoatl]

16. Obama is furious with him

and that's why I don't think he will fire him.

McChrystal is losing in Afghanistan. Obama will hang the loss on him.

[TheKentuckian]

24. Good luck selling that to an unsympathetic audience

[notadmblnd]

17. They said on MSNBC that Karzi is backing him.

Don't know what that means politically though.

[TheKentuckian]

18. If he doesn't let him go then he is promoting him to Commander in Chief

and has lost control of his chain of command and others will be challenging the authority of the President in short order. Civilian control of the military would be put at great risk by such a display of weakness.

[Hutzpa]

23. So whats this suppose to mean

Again, I hope I'm wrong. An emboldened military leadership and an elected government that doesn't call it on the carpet when necessary is creating conditions that endanger an already endangered democracy.

huh? :shrug:

[TheKentuckian]

25. It means letting the general slide again endangers the concept of civilian control of the military

He should have shit canned him for leaking his plans to spur the President and to get his way.

[glitch]

26. Of course they will, no matter what. They're Republicans, their get out of jail free card

is It's not our fault!

"We could have won if we had had the civilian leadership we deserved."

They will constantly be getting us into unwinnable wars, raking in tons of taxpayer's dough, and then blaming everyone else at the inevitable "loss". But it's not really a loss for them, is it?
Smoke and mirrors, b-grade kabuki, same as always.

[bvar22]

27. K&R

A good reading of the situation.

[RaleighNCDUer]

29. Truman fired McArthur - and McChrystal is no McArthur.

If the generals don't like the CIC, they can resign. They don't dis him in the press.

McChrystal has been given damn near everything he asked for from Obama, and continues to fail because this is not a 'winnable' war.

Obama listened to the generals, did things their way, pissing off half the people who voted for him, and it didn't work. It's time to change the game.

[ieoeja]

31. But unlike MacArthur, McChrystal has not already lost his command.

In the 24 hours before that second "surprise" Chinese offensive, the US Marine Corps commander removed his men from MacArthur's command. A few days after, all of our UN allies followed suit.

The only troops officially under MacArthur's command were those in the US Army. And Ridgeway reported that a lot of them were carrying a bullet with MacArthur's name painted on it.

So the only thing Truman really did to Mac was fire him as military governor of Japan. He had already lost his command of Korea.


Worse yet, MacArthur ordered unauthorized use of atomic weapons while lying to the SAC commander claiming he had the authority.


Contrary to the common wisdom, MacArthur was *not* fired for arguing with the president in public. He was fired for some really, truly horrendous actions which were kept under lock and key until a retired US Army general filed an FOIA request so he could write The Forgotten War.

[Uzybone]

30. He is done. Of course you are wrong.

But you can speculate left and right and be wrong 100% of the time with no repercussions.

[NJmaverick]

32. I guess things didn't happen as you said they would

[Karmadillo]

40. Things may not happen as I said they would, but since Obama has yet to make a decision,

they may. Your statement seems a bit premature.

[Catherina]

33. Why the fuck is Obama still in Afghanistan? Get. Out. Now.

Stupid, stupid move to remain over there fighting an unwinnable war.

[Arkana]

34. McChrystal will resign and Obama will accept his resignation.

Book it.

[SidDithers]

35. K&R for accuracy in predictions...nt

Sid

[SidDithers]

41. And again...

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x8619843

Sid

[ShamelessHussy]

37. the politics of this situation dictate that he must go

can't have this kinda insubordination over looked.

time will tell.

[grantcart]

38. Question: Have you actually read the article.

While the comments about the President and others were off the wall and actionable, the remarks he makes about Eikenberry are a different matter.

It is clear from the article that McChrystal is openly at war with the other parts of the administration.

I find it difficult to believe that you read the entire article and came to the conclusion that he is going to come out of this "unscathed".

[readmoreoften]

42. Oh goodness gracious. It's not that big of a deal and it doesn't take that much "courage."

[Scurrilous]

43. Kick

:kick:

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

44. There is no way Al Gore will win the Nobel Prize.

[Hutzpa]

45. Psssst.

You are wrong.

[Skidmore]

46. Oh, for pity sake.

Clean the egg off of your face. Is there anything our President can do that you find worthy of a nod in his direction? McChrystal has been relieved of his command. Enough.

[azmouse]

47. Wrong.

oh so wrong...

[grantcart]

48. Your understanding of the President's courage is of course wrong

The fact that you couldn't wait to try and lead the parade bashing the President speaks volumes.

It was obvious that McChrystal was finished.

Beyond the fact that he undermined the chain of command was the fact that he distroyed any possibility of working with our allies or the ambassador.

[Karmadillo]

58. I'm glad Obama made the right decision here. Given his lack of courage

in dealing with the banksters and failing to deal with the crimes of the Bush administration, I thought there was a good chance he'd fail to take on McChrystal. As I noted, I'm happy I was wrong on this one. Better, though, if Obama had shown the courage to bring our disgraceful aggression in Afghanistan to an end.

[grantcart]

62. LIke so many peole who are "fed up and can't take any more" you have come back for more

You have shown that you have absolutely no skill in judging the President's degree of political courage.

The caveat that you are now happy does nothing to explain the fact that given a situation with a rather obvious outcome you didn't come close to predicting what was going to happen.

Your "disgraceful aggression in Afghanistan" is as cheap and incorrect a shot as your "Obama will never . . ".

Tedious, uninformed and entirely predictable.

[Karmadillo]

66. Maybe. I thought holding Bush/Cheney accountable for their crimes was a "rather obvious outcome,"

too, but Obama didn't have the courage for that one. I just assumed his lack of courage on that one was an indicator he might display the same lack of courage on this one. I'm glad I was wrong.

Our aggression in Afghanistan isn't disgraceful?

[Uzybone]

49. Dead wrong

as usual

[denbot]

50. Dewey Beats Truman!!!!

Series!!!! this is hugh!!!!

[dionysus]

51. i guess you fail.

[Karmadillo]

52. I'm glad Obama had the wisdom to boot McC. Too bad he lacks the wisdom to end the war.

nt

[Spazito]

53. "I will be happy if I'm wrong,"

You must be very happy today!

[Karmadillo]

55. Nope. I would have been very happy if Obama had decided to bring the war to an end.

McChrystal was the easy part. Obama continues to fail on the hard part.

[Spazito]

57. LOL! That was NOT in your prediction, way to change the subject....

I knew you would but was curious how the post blaming Obama would be 'framed' given your OP being absolutely wrong.

Quite funny even though predicable.

:rofl:

[Karmadillo]

59. No.

I was simply pointing out I said in my OP I would "happy" if I was wrong, not, as you said, "very happy." I would reserve very happy for ending our aggression against Afghanistan.

[Spazito]

61. ROFLMAO! n/t

:rofl: :rofl: :rofl:

[Karmadillo]

64. I'm glad you know how to use the smilies.

They'll help compensate for your writing/reading skills.

[CakeGrrl]

65. Yeah, he forgot his magic wand today. Should've had it done by 12:00pm EDT.

:eyes:

[Karmadillo]

67. He doesn't need a magic want to end aggression in Afghanistan. Just courage

and wisdom.

[SidDithers]

56. They don't seem very happy...nt

Sid

[Egnever]

54. Dont you hate these threads?

[alcibiades_mystery]

60. Prediction fail

[snooper2]

63. let me know when you start making bets on the Super Bowl

:rofl:

[Karmadillo]

68. I have to run into work for awhile. Please keep this thread kicked. Thanks.

nt