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Combat Troops Rally Behind McChrystal

1 year ago
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David Wood
David Wood
Chief Military Correspondent
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As President Obama decides today whether to fire his Afghanistan commander, Gen. Stanley McChrystal, a new political complication arises: Troops will be furious if he is relieved.

Sure, there is plenty of griping in the field about the restrictions that McChrystal's counterinsurgency strategy has imposed on how soldiers, Marines and airmen fight.

But McChrystal is widely admired -- revered, in some quarters -- for his hard-core military career, his willingness to share danger with his troops, his six straight years of highly successful combat missions in Iraq and Afghanistan, and, yes, his willingness to differ with soft civilians in safe, cushy jobs who criticize their conduct of the war.

For him to be relieved by a commander in chief with no military experience, and one presiding over a White House widely seen as suspicious if not hostile to the military, would be too much for some.

"If he is relieved, I am selling my car and cashing in my 401K and giving the $ to the Republicans,'' a senior officer told me by e-mail from Afghanistan, in one typical comment.

More Stanley McChrystal Coverage:

- McChrystal Relieved of Duty; Petraeus to Take Command in Afghanistan
- Transcript of President Obama's Remarks on Gen. Stanley McChrystal
- Walter Shapiro: McChrystal, Afghanistan, and the Era of Foreign Policy Austerity
- David Wood: Washington Weighs Gen. McChrystal Replacement
- David Corn: Will a McChrystal Dismissal Be Bad News for War Critics?

The ill-considered comments of McChrystal and his staff to Rolling Stone magazine prompted consternation among his admirers in the ranks. But not because they were untrue. The belittling remarks made by the general and his top staff about Ambassador Karl Eikenberry, national security adviser James Jones, Ambassador Richard Holbrooke and Vice President Joe Biden reflected very real disagreements about how the war should be prosecuted. But to voice them aloud in the presence of a journalist?

"Stan is to blame,'' said one officer.

But to cast him aside in favor of a more politically smooth operator, he went on to say, would be a dishonor deeply felt across the ranks.

The Rolling Stone piece, by freelance journalist Michael Hastings, focused on what it portrayed as the widely unpopular "rules of engagement'' McChrystal has imposed on military operations in Afghanistan to try to reduce civilian casualties, a key objective in counterinsurgency warfare.

"Every time you kill a civilian here you make 10 enemies for life,'' is how one combat commander explained it to me in Afghanistan. A Marine general called it "graduate-level warfare.''

The rules require, for example, that ground commanders whose troops are under fire withdraw to avoid causing civilian casualties.

McChrystal's rules also require that strike-fighter pilots, when called on to extricate U.S. troops from a firefight by bombing the enemy, first initiate a discussion with the ground commander to see if there is an alternative that might be less risky to Afghan civilians.
No question, it's hard on the troops. I've written about a squad of paratroopers from the 82nd Airborne caught in a nighttime ambush, with many of them badly wounded. The paratroopers knew where the attackers came from, but were prevented from responding. That, their battalion commander told me, was the responsibility of the Afghan police. Bringing the attackers to justice might be a slow and uncertain process in their hands – but how else are they going to learn?

Needless to say, not a popular position. But most of the paratroopers told me later they understood the reasoning, even if it was hard to stand by and let the Afghan police screw up the investigation and not be able to avenge their wounded buddies.
Today, troops are still griping about McChrystal's tough regulations -- but my sense is that Hastings got wrong how the troops in Afghanistan today feel about McChrystal when he wrote:
McChrystal's new marching orders have caused an intense backlash among his own troops. Being told to hold their fire, soldiers complain, puts them in greater danger. "Bottom line?" says a former Special Forces operator who has spent years in Iraq and Afghanistan. "I would love to kick McChrystal in the nuts. His rules of engagement put soldiers' lives in even greater danger. Every real soldier will tell you the same thing."
For every soldier griping about McChrystal's regs, I've heard from dozens who've explained to me that "in this kind of war we can't kill our way to victory.'' The troops get it. And many are convinced that McChrystal's strategy, and the general's leadership, are essential to success in Afghanistan.

"If he is relieved,'' a disconsolate senior officer e-mailed me from Afghanistan, "it is a good day for al Qaeda.''

Filed Under: Stanley McChrystal
Tagged: dailyguidance, McChrystal Obama, McChrystal Rolling Stone, McChrystal troops, McChrystal White House, McchrystalObama, McchrystalTroops
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24 Comments

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luceesky1

MR. WOOD HAS WRITTEN EXCELLENT ARTICLES RELATING TO THE, TOP NEWS STORIES, HOW
OTHER PEOPLE FEEL ABOUT THE ACTIONS TAKEN BY OTHERS.
WASHINGTON NEEDS TO LET THE MILITARY RUN THE WAR ... THE POLITICIANS SHOULD FOCUS
ON THE ISSUES THAT ARE FACING THE CITIZEN'S, COMMUNITIES AND STATES !!
WASHINGTON POLITICIANS LOST THE WAR IN V NAM ... THE SAME THING IS HAPPENING NOW.
THERE IS NO SUCH THING AS A, "FRIENDLY WAR", SAD, BUT, TRUE !!

June 25 2010 at 9:09 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Sohal50

It is real unfortunate to replace General McChrystal but Military discipline wanrarant it

June 24 2010 at 12:39 AM Report abuse +2 rate up rate down Reply
oldengineera2

General Mc Chrystal has never been "faint" hearted in his support of all his troops and is on record as getting out from behind the desk to see what they need. I think it is too coy by half for the C-in-C to waffle, delay, and bargain on the request for resources on the General's part, and then take great feigned umbrage at the General's understandable sense of insufficient support from above.
I'd be proud to follow one of them. Guess which?

June 23 2010 at 11:31 PM Report abuse +1 rate up rate down Reply
firedogg3012

I'm a former soldier and let me tell ya, as a soldier you may not like who's in charge but you follow them and do your job, this story is BS, the troops will follow Petraeus to hell in gas underwear, or anybody Obama appoints, that's the code of being a soldier.

June 23 2010 at 10:38 PM Report abuse +3 rate up rate down Reply
ocrob1

"Soft civilians in safe, cushy jobs?" Are you kidding? He engaged in childish name calling and disparagement of the duly elected Comander-in-Chief, the VP and several other civilian leaders who definitely do not have "safe, cushy jobs." Whether the troops like him or not is beside the point. McChrystal engaged in conduct that was destructive to the chain of command. He should have to face a court martial.

June 23 2010 at 10:35 PM Report abuse -3 rate up rate down Reply
1 reply to ocrob1's comment
oldengineera2

Well, Biden did declare General Petraeus's "surge" strategy a failure... before it succeeded. Not the greatest morale booster, Joe.

June 23 2010 at 11:33 PM Report abuse +3 rate up rate down Reply
Katie

Thank you General and God bless you. We will be waiting to hear your opinions and views- Yours truly, The American people.

June 23 2010 at 8:52 PM Report abuse +2 rate up rate down Reply
tyj146

Do you really think that the rules of engagement will change under new leadership?

June 23 2010 at 6:49 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Richbroke1

Hey Stan McChrystal is my kinda leader, as a Veteran of the Cold war for 13yrs
He is the kind of soldier you follow. But he let his guard down he should have put his staff in check and also spared no quarter for that mag rollin stones, He is a 4star, he should have handled his Bizz. but OB is right this war is bigger than one man. So my fellow soldier there will always be protocol with the head civies and we know the coming in. HOORAY! to the General and to the Prez. 11th ACR

June 23 2010 at 4:01 PM Report abuse +10 rate up rate down Reply
katme2006

We miss you President Bush and so does our troops.

June 23 2010 at 3:58 PM Report abuse +11 rate up rate down Reply
1 reply to katme2006's comment
ericjguerin

Our Forefathers missed something in the Constitution: US Military experience required for elected and appointed Federal office holders, who are in line of succession.

GW Bush was a fighter pilot in Air National Guard, for those who have forgotten.

June 23 2010 at 5:47 PM Report abuse +4 rate up rate down Reply
gtheel

The troops are sworn to uphold the Constitution...not those that would trample all over it.

June 23 2010 at 3:41 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply

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