McChrystal-Gate's Real Winners & Losers

Obama’s dismissal of General Stanley A. McChrystal as the commanding general in Afghanistan is a major historical event that will reverberate for years -- in Washington, West Point, Kabul, and elsewhere around the globe.

Obama’s dismissal of General Stanley A. McChrystal as the commanding general in Afghanistan is a major historical event that will reverberate for years -- in Washington, West Point, Kabul, and elsewhere around the globe. So who are the winners and losers? Herewith a preliminary tally.

Winners or Losers (We don’t know which yet)

General David Petraeus. “King David,” as he is respectfully known, is being called upon, once again, to right a ship that has gone aground. He saved Iraq, but can he save Afghanistan?

Given sufficient time and resources, yes he can; but therein lies the rub: Obama wants to begin withdrawing troops from Afghanistan next summer. And the president’s objective is not to win, but to do enough so that Afghanistan ceases to be a distraction from his real priority, which is domestic policy.

So although Petraeus’ stock is now soaring, “King David” might well crash and burn if Afghanistan proves more difficult and intractable than Obama would like. And Petraeus can forget about a presidential run in 2012: With his new responsibilities, he simply won’t have time to think about, let alone plan, a political campaign.

So is Afghanistan a blessing or a curse for Petraeus? We don’t know. I report and history decides.

Special Envoy Richard Holbrooke and Ambassador Karl Eikenberry. The Obama administration’s foreign policy “dynamic duo” has proven to incredibly arrogant and singularly inept. And what’s more, they don’t work well with others, especially military commanders on the ground.

For these reasons, it was not McChrystal, but rather Holbrooke and Eikenberry who deserved to be fired. Obama, however, spared them; and so they dodged a bullet. But now the pressure’s on both men to produce. They must work well and effectively with General Petraeus. Otherwise, the Washington elite will rightly assume that they were the problem all along; and then it’s “Hasta la vista Holbrooke and Eikenberry!”

Losers

Military Warriors. McChrystal and his aides got into trouble because they were battle-hardened warriors who spoke amongst themselves in candid and earthy tones. But this violated Washington’s PC test; and so the political and pundit class declared war on them.

So it is that our military warriors have suffered a decisive defeat and a devastating setback from which they might never recover. That’s because, throughout the ranks of the U.S. military, the word has been sent: warriors need not apply. We’ll use your martial skills out in the field, but you’re not welcome in the corridors of power. Good bye!

Military Intellectuals / Thought Leaders. The hierarchical nature of the military tends to cultivate group think and mediocrity. That’s because intellectuals and mavericks who think outside the proverbial box tend to get weeded out of the military. Such individuals are viewed as “selfish” and “demanding.” They’re not, we are told, “team players.”

Consequently, most military intellectuals and mavericks never get promoted to general officer. They tend to top out, instead, at the colonel or “O-6” level.

General Petraeus began to change this when, a few years back, he was appointed to oversee the Army’s general officer promotion boards. But no commanding general, no matter how determined, can overcome an institutional resistance that has been built up over several generations, and which is deeply engrained in the military culture.

General McChrystal’s un-ceremonial departure for, in effect, being open and candid with the media will serve to further stigmatize the military’s free and independent thinkers. What battlefield commander, after all, will dare now to risk a stray thought or idea? What high-ranking officer will dare to engage the public dialogue? Answer: none who have any aspiration to make general!

Free Speech. As far as the military is concerned, the lesson from the McChrystal brouhaha is clear: Clam up, shut up, and don’t mouth off. Bite your tongue and censor yourself: because free speech ain’t free. It’s costly. Indeed, it can, quite literally, cost you your career.

Free speech, therefore, should be reserved for civilians, but never practiced by members of the military. Never mind that free speech is the vital underpinning of a creative and intellectually engaged military. Intellectual engagement, after all, won’t save your career; it will only hurt it. So be smart: pipe down and keep your thoughts to yourself!

Military Journalists / Bloggers. Journalists and bloggers routinely complain about how difficult it is to cover the Pentagon and the U.S. military, and with good reason: The veil of secrecy that surrounds most military offices -- even ones that have no business being shrouded in confidentiality -- allows the Pentagon to be more secretive than perhaps any other American institution.

Well, the media’s job is about to get significantly more difficult. That’s because military leaders have learned that there is no upside to talking freely and openly with the press. There is only a downside. Witness, for instance, what happened to General McChrystal and his aides: They were canned!

So what the media will get now are more artificial and scripted press events and less candor and realism from our military leaders. They’ll get more well-coached military personnel who have been trained to say only bland and non-controversial things which offend and excite no one.

Good job, media! I hope you’re happy with having helped topple McChrystal: because you’re about to pay for what you did.

American People

Ordinary Americans who want to know how their military and government work are the biggest losers. Their knowledge and understanding now will be compromised and sacrificed on the altar of power politics and bureaucratic retrenchment.

Oh, to be sure, the media beast will be fed. But increasingly, it will be fed with junk food and infotainment: that is, stories which fail to pierce the artificial veneer created by military spin-meisters and their media clientele.

Winners

Barack Obama. By quickly dismissing McChrystal without a lot of rhetorical fireworks and prolonged drama, Obama has projected an image of cool resolution and decisive calm. He has shown that he is the commander-in-chief, and is not to be trifled with.

Needless to say, this assertion of authority could not have come at a better time for Obama. The BP Gulf oil spill, after all, has revealed a man wholly out of his element, with no sense of how to manage a crisis or deal with the nation’s deep-seated underlying problems. Then, too, there was Obama’s infamous dithering and indecision about the troop surge in Afghanistan.

But for now at least, all of that is forgotten because Obama has shown that he can, indeed, take quick and resolute action.

Political and Pundit Class. Preening politicians and pompous pundits smelled blood in the water and were salivating for General McChrystal’s scalp on Monday. Their feeding frenzy has been richly rewarded. Indeed, a high-tech lynching has been effected, and mob rule has been vindicated.

Look for the left-leaning political and pundit class to target other heretics for excommunication and professional destruction. Power, after all, as Henry Kissinger once observed, is the ultimate aphrodisiac; and the political and pundit class is high now on its own power. Thus it will strike again. I guarantee it.