Like a Rolling Stone

I'm off to Chicago today for this event at the Pritzker Military Library, but of course the hot issue of the day is General McChrystal's interview with Rolling Stone. Now, I haven't read the whole article yet, but considering General McChrystal has already apologized for its content, the fears of an unnecessary distraction - and the pending fallout - seem valid.

While the public and DC is mostly going to focus on the political nature of McChrystal's/aides' comments, and use them accordingly depending upon their own agenda, the strategic implications for Afghanistan will unfortunately be put on the backburner. (What evidence do I have for this? Just nine years of the American public largely ignoring the war, and politicians' reactionary diatribes. That's all.) A central tenet of any military organization is unity of command, and this reads like the exact opposite of that. It was no secret that McChrystal and Eikenberry weren't buddies, but this is something else altogether. Everyone, from the POTUS to Biden to the Muppet Babies, get trotted in.

We're fighting in a land Alexander the Great described as the graveyard of empires, trying to defy all historical precedence on an accelerated timeline. Any distraction - let alone something like this - is going to be legitimately magnified. I don't know if it'll cost McChrystal his job - though it may very well do just that - but I do think this makes that July 2011 pullout date more concrete. And more importantly, it has made the job for the soldiers and Marines on the ground even more difficult, while calling into question the clarity of mission passed down to them. Tough day for the war effort.