Top Marine Dislikes Afghan Deadline---so, fire him

[spanone]

these fuckers defying their CIC need to go...they know nothing but war

WASHINGTON — The commandant of the Marine Corps said on Tuesday that President Obama’s July 2011 deadline for the start of American troop withdrawals from Afghanistan was “probably giving our enemy sustenance.”

The remark was by far the most sharply worded public comment from a senior military commander about the White House’s timetable for ending the war.

The commandant, Gen. James T. Conway, also said that “if you follow it closely, and of course we all do, we know the president was talking to several audiences at the same time when he made his comments on July 2011.” The general apparently meant that Mr. Obama’s deadline was set for a domestic political audience as well as for the Afghans.

But the general, who is retiring this fall, said he thought the deadline might not ultimately comfort the insurgents, who could find that only a small number of United States forces leave Afghanistan next July, a scenario that is increasingly set forth by Pentagon officials and senior military commanders. General Conway predicted that Taliban foot soldiers, who he said have been told repeatedly by their commanders that the Americans would leave en masse, would be demoralized when they realize that the United States is staying.

“What’s he going to say to his foot troops,” General Conway observed about Taliban commanders, when, “come the fall, we’re still there hammering them like we have been? I think it could be very good for us in that context, in terms of the enemy’s psyche and what he has been, you know, posturing now for, really, the better part of a year.”

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/25/world/asia/25military.html?ref=global-home&pagewanted=print

[gratuitous]

1. Is "sustenance" the equivalent of "aid and comfort"?

Because it sounds a lot like Mr. Conway is accusing President Obama of treason, which is something that used to be taken pretty seriously in the military. But since the days of the Dim Son running the place, you can lie to Congress, blow off subpoenas, and now apparently accuse the president of treason and it's all hunky dory, because we don't want to politicize dissent or spend our time looking backwards to the past.

[spanone]

2. the military has been politicized like never before imho

[JustABozoOnThisBus]

5. I think it's been politicized for a while

With generals like Petraeus, McChrystal, Westmoreland, MacArthur, Patton, Grant, Washington, and others.

It's demeaning to be micro-managed by the Commander-in-Chief, don't ya know?

:hi:

[spanone]

7. Obama should follow the lead of harry truman with macarthur

President Harry Truman fired him for making public statements that contradicted the official policies of the United States Government

why is this soldier talking to the new york times?

[sailor65]

9. Because that's one of the groups you talk to

at a Pentagon Press briefing?

[spanone]

10. he's out of line.

[sailor65]

13. No, he isn't

He's saying the same thing the Pentagon and the White House have both known for a long time. That any announcement of troop withdrawal will give the enemy sustenance (Of an emotional and temporary nature) and allow the enemy commanders to capitalize for morale. That has always been known and accounted for. He then goes on to say though that it will be GOOD for the US because the President's plan will not be the victory the Taliban want. The General did not defy anyone.

[DrDan]

3. why does this administration feel teacher's feet should be held to the fire

but the military can set their own rules for waging this ill-conceived war.

[ieoeja]

6. Yeah, it's not like he fired an Afghan commander every year he's been in office.

:sarcasm:

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

4. The American people's morale is dropping a helluva lot faster than the Taliban's.

They're finally awakening to the fact that the war is lost and it's time to get the hell out.

[sailor65]

8. Did you even read your own link?

If you did, then nice job totally misrepresenting it. Not only did the General NOT criticize the President, he also put voice to what the initiated already know; that the President is following a plan that will not be the grand victory that the Taliban commanders are looking for.

This General is not defying anybody and doesn't need to be fired. I think that somewhere there is a teacher of reading comprehension that should suffer the fate though.

Sharply worded? Please

Oh, and unrec......

[LuckyTheDog]

11. Conway should be stripped of rank...

... and brought up on charges. Generals are supposed to give their advice behind closed doors and stay out of the political debate.

[sailor65]

14. You can't be serious

this was an approved Pentagon briefing, and he DID NOT ciriticize the President or the Presiden't policy. In fact, he expressed it as an ultimate GOOD for the US.

[NeedleCast]

12. How is he defying the CiC?

Personally, if I were president, I'd want commanders who spoke up when they thought I was making a bad decision. They are, generally, the experts.