McChrystal Draws Support, Scorn on Capitol Hill
What's the right way for a top general to advise the president about wartime strategy? What if his recommended strategy is potentially at odds with the president's preferred course of action? Gen. Stanley McChrystal ran up against these questions in recent days, and not everyone in Washington thinks he handled his part in the matter appropriately.
What’s the right way for a top general to advise the president about wartime strategy? What if his recommended strategy is potentially at odds with the president’s preferred course of action? Gen. Stanley McChrystal ran up against these questions in recent days, and not everyone in Washington thinks he handled his part in the matter appropriately. However, McChrystal has a few supporters as well, such as (perhaps unsurprisingly) President Obama’s onetime rival, Sen. John McCain. –KA
Dig, Root, GrowReuters via Google News:
Since then, McChrystal has met privately with President Barack Obama during Obama’s quick trip to Copenhagen last Friday, a session White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said was constructive.
He has been publicly flogged by Defense Secretary Robert Gates, who on Monday without mentioning his name said it was best for civilian and military leaders to “provide our best advice to the president candidly but privately.”
And the White House national security adviser, retired General Jim Jones, scolded McChrystal, telling CBS’ “Face the Nation” program that McChrystal’s Afghan assessment was his “opinion” and that, “The president should be presented with options, not just one fait accompli.”
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