A Price of Honesty?

I wonder if we will ever know the details leading to the conclusion of the General McCrystal flap. The day before last there were reports that the General had tendered his resignation and shortly following his audience with dear leader that resignation was accepted and announced to the world. Confusion stems from the variance in reporting on this happening. Some report it as a resignation and others report that the General was fired. The report that the General had tendered his resignation seems to fit the former but there are more than a few writers who gleefully report it as a firing. As if saying somewhat disparaging things in to a once upon a time music magazine is worthy of being relieved of duty.

Honestly, I just don’t get it. I have worked in a military installation in the past and whoever was in charge of anything was always being talked about in an unflattering manner by whoever was working for them. These comments were not secret and no they were never published in a national publication but then no one is interested in gossip from one of thousands of military offices and how Lieutenant A thinks that they can do a better job than Major B.

Much of the words leant to supporting the eventual conclusion point to the seeming sacrosanct civilian control of the military and the assumption that this “disrespectful” action has a disparaging affect from the bottom up. This is an empty assumption at best. Not knowing anything my guess is that many in the military think just as poorly of General McCrystal as they do dear leader. The military is that large and just like any large organization there is no shortage of know-it-alls and egotist ladder climbers with a large variety of opinions regarding direction.

Certainly partisan, to me this seems this occurrence is further evidence of the President’s thin skin. He summoned General McCrystal to “explain himself”, whatever that means, and was reported to be angry at these comments. And what about these comments? My reading of the article seems to reveal what the General and his staff thinks of the President, that he is basically a micro-managing yet indecisive leader. A dangerous combination that in my opinion is an accurate assessment of dear leader’s performance so far. In the end the end of General McCrystal’s military career appears to be a price of honesty.