Questionable Comments

Thanks to Wikicommons.

We at US Democrazy love to challenge our boss, but what if your boss is the President?

Well, General Stanley McCrystal (commander of US troops in Afghanistan) has decided to answer this question for us.

On October 1, when asked if he approved of Vice President Joe Biden’s plan to reduce US forces in Afghanistan’s cities, McChrystal promptly responded with a deep breathe and a short word:

NO!

So… how did the President Obama take this brazen, blunt (and some are saying insulting) comment to the Nation’s number 2?

Well, there has been no official reprimand, but the next day Obama and McChrystal had a nice little one on one chat.  (And let us tell you, when your boss calls you into his office… it’s not good… believe us, we know).

The National Security Advisor Jim Jones, speaking on CNN, also chimed in that

Ideally, it’s best for military advice to come up through the chain of command

David Rothkopf, writing for Foreign Policy, was surprised that McChrystal has gotten off so light as

He is trying to play political hardball with his Commander-in-Chief … a game he is always going to lose.

It wasn’t only the media pundits McChrystal had to hear from. Yesterday, Secretary of Defense Robert Gates made the pointed comment that

it is imperative that all of us taking part in these deliberations — civilians and military alike — provide our best advice to the president candidly but privately

Andrew Sullivan, writing for The Atlantic, however did not join in on McChrystal bashing commenting

his bluntness in public and private suggest a man serious about winning this war.

So has McChrystal jumped over the chain of command or is the press (and blogosphere) making too much of a deal out of this? Don’t expect an opinion from us (we don’t feel like having a one on one with the boss) so you’ll have to write up your own.