11 Revelations From Rolling Stone’s McChrystal Profile

Early reports

already chewed over the insults to Ambassadors Eikenberry and Holbrooke and National Security Adviser Jones, but there’s a lot more to the Rolling Stone article that could mean Gen. Stanley McChrystal’s ass. Here are 11 jaw-droppers, groaners and sigh-inducers.

1. The general would “rather have my ass kicked by a roomful of people than go out to this dinner” with a French minister, but determines no one is capable of beating his ass. One of his aides says of the dinner, “It’s fucking gay.”
2. Vice President Joe Biden? “Who’s that?,” McChrystal jokes. An aide adds, “Did you say: Bite Me?”
3. McChrystal’s handpicked staff calls itself “Team America,” after the movie “Team America: World Police” that makes fun of people like Stanley McChrystal and his staff.
4. McChrystal is said to sleep little, eat less and run a lot. In one month, the reporter witnesses the general eating only once.
5. Although he clearly doesn’t get along with President Obama and is disappointed in their relationship, McChrystal voted for the president.
6. Team America actually likes Hillary Clinton (a rare honor for an administration official) because she once advocated giving McChrystal whatever he wanted.
7. McChrystal had to negotiate for hours to have Afghan President Hamid Karzai roused from a nap.
8. McChrystal was a key figure in the cover-up of Pat Tillman’s friendly-fire killing and warned the Bush administration that the then-president could be embarrassed. McChrystal was also linked to detainee abuse. These two scandals did nothing to thwart his rise. The general was promoted days after Tillman’s death.
9. The general carries a set of custom nunchuks with his name engraved on them.
10. One particularly compelling section of the article shows McChrystal trying and failing to convince soldiers on the ground that his strategy is worthwhile. There is a strong feeling among the rank-and-file soldiers quoted that we are losing the war.
11. A senior adviser is quoted as saying the war is going worse than we realize: “If Americans pulled back and started paying attention to this war, it would become even less popular.” Still, Pentagon officials are hoping that rather than a withdrawal of troops, the White House will approve a third surge.

Do yourself a favor and read the entire article. There are many more gems where these came from. — PZS