I've
been reading the Rolling Stone magazine piece that brought down General
McChrystal and feel very unnerved by it. I know that the consensus
dictated that, after remarks made largely by members of McChrystal's team, the
General simply had to go. But a number of things occur to me.
Firstly,
is America sure it has enough top generals and is doing so well in Afghanistan
and Iraq that it can simply dispose of any general tripped up in such
a - pretty sneaky - way by the media? I tend not to have much sympathy for
politicians caught like this. They spend their life politicking. But generals,
though it's helpful if they are politically savvy, have another
rather important job on the side.
Secondly,
it isn't at all clear to me that this isn't a shot in the foot for the
coalition in Afghanistan. The Daily Beast is already reporting here
that Taliban commanders are welcoming the sacking as a victory for them.
Thirdly,
as with the Japanese in World War II who insisted their naval
commanders had to go down with their ships, I'm not sure that a huge and
valuable source of knowledge isn't lost irretrievably when commanders are
forced to go down with a story.
