My Daddy is 86 and lives in Cecilia. He landed at Normandy on D Day and would slap you upside the head for such an insolent remark.
Most common environment for communism in America today, cept you gotta volunteer to earn said privilege. Lil more than just joining a club.
The comments made by General McChrystal and his aides were both unfortunate and not in good judgement. First of all, they should've known better than to allow a reporter for the Rolling Stone access to them and their views. Last time I checked Rolling Stone wasn't your run-of-the-mill right wing, military supporting magazine. Secondly, comments like that in public about the Commander-in-Chief? That's just stuff you learn on day one. Maybe the General was TRYING to get axed though, who knows? The problem now for the President is whether he becomes a vocal critic a la Gen MacGarther back in day. To answer your question, Rex, YES, you do tend to lose a few rights - including Freedom of Speech - when you join the military. You are not allowed to make disparaging remarks about your superiors, ESPECIALLY your Commander-in-Chief. Sure, you may not like him or his policies, but you must 1) respect the Office and 2) understand that comments such as the General's are tantamount to good order and discipline and subvert - whether intentional or not - the chain of command. Think what you want behind close doors, but DEFINITELY not in an open forum such as Rolling Stone Magazine. With regard to the troops on the ground, yes, they are frustrated because they overwhelmingly feel like they are fighting with two hands tied behind their backs. Is it important to win the hearts and minds of the people when fighting a counterinsurgency? Absolutely. But in my opinion, not at the expense of hampering the efforts and abilities of your troops to do what they're trained to do. People die in wars. It happens. But we're not doing ourselves any favors with our current ROE over there, if you ask me. As for Gen Petraeus taking over, I think he'll do a good job - if he's allowed to do what he needs to do to win this war. The President pretty much has a year to get this done, seeing as he said we'll start pulling troops out in July 2011. In my opinion, Petraeus is just the man for the job. BUT, and this is why you don't set timetables like this, President Obama could have some trouble if we're still not seeing success over there next year. Does he extend his timetable or pull the troops out in potential defeat? Tune in next time...
