General McChrystal`s Big Mistake....and Obama`s

General Stanley McChrystal made a big mistake.  He says so, his Commander in Chief says so as well as the Defence Secretary and Joint Chiefs of Staff.

He and his staff should not have allowed Rolling Stone Magazine such unfettered access in a time of war.  Having done so, he compounded the mistake by speaking too freely.

Many of the individual criticisms made by he and his staff have merit and have been spoken by many in Congress and the media.  It doesn`t matter whether he was right on the merits of the criticisms or not.  Arguably it is worse that his comments have merit because they are more destabilizing.

As the man in charge of the Afghanistan theatre, General McChrystal is responsible for motivating the troops and getting them ready to do the job.  If he felt that his hands were being tied by politicians in Washington, then he has a responsibility to resign.....not to pop off to Rolling Stone magazine.

McChrystal must go.  His actions reflect poor judgment and border on insubordination.  This is clear.

So then why are Obama, Defence Secretary Gates and various members of the Chain of Command issuing statements of disappointment in the General?  Why are they all talking to the press about McChrystal's "error in judgment."

Obama should have fired McChrystal and ordered him home immediately.  The rest of them should have shut up.  Sadly, this kind of public vacillation supports some of McChrystal's complaints about indecivenesss.

It's ironic and very troubling. 

Does Obama have it in him to make the hard (or even the easy) decisions?  This is starting to look like a second term for the Carter administration.