McChrystal's Resignation - A Warning to the Nation?

Many people with extensive military experience believe that General Stan McChrystal's resignation, was less about the inflammatory comments he and staff members made about the President of the United States and other civilian leaders and officials, are more about some issues associated with America's involvement in military operations in Afghanistan.

To understand why a four star General would willingly make comments that he knew would result in his dismissal requires one to understand some of the history and personalities associated with America's involvement in Vietnam.

We must remember that Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara wrote in his memoirs several years ago that he was convinced in 1966 that America's efforts in Vietnam would ultimately be in vain, largely because the government of South Vietnam was too corrupt and inept to ever take full control of the country. When asked why he didn't tell President Johnson what his thoughts were, McNamara replied that he felt his role as SecDef was to support whatever opinions and policies the President had, and the President wanted to keep America in Vietnam.

McNamara admitted that he should have said something to his boss, vice aiding and abetting several more years of American involvement in a war he knew was unwinnable as "winning" was described by LBJ and others. Sadly, from the time McNamara realized that America should get out of Vietnam until we actually did leave, tens of thousands of additional American boys (most were under age 22) died in the jungles of that doomed nation.

I write this historical orientation to illustrate my point; that I believe that McChrystal has thought out a series of actions, these statements included among them, that are designed to ensure he can have a clear conscience in the future that he did everything possible, including sacrificing his career, to serve notice to the President and others that we must get our forces out of that Godforsaken country and stop trying to make them into a country that somehow resembles an western democracy.