The Firing of a War Time General

by: Timothy Pruitt

Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates has issued David McKiernan, the top US Commander in Afghanistan, his walking papers. The firing of a wartime Commander has not occurred since the controversial firing of Douglas MacArthur on 11 May, 1951 while commanding the Korean theater. While
McKiernan, a four star General, has been on the job less than a year, Gates says he is looking for, “fresh thinking” and “new eyes” on Afghanistan.
"We have a new strategy, a new mission and a new ambassador. I believe that new military leadership is also needed," Gates said.
Unnamed sources inside the Pentagon say that McKiernan has been labeled as over cautious and too conventional minded for the unique skills required for counterinsurgency. These feelings are apparently echoed in the statements of Gen. David H. Petraeus, the top commander of U.S. forces, who sees the Iraq and Afghanistan missions as more than killing the enemy, but protecting its population and helping to rebuild the local governments. Sentiments which seem to have hailed from the White House.
Gates praised McKiernan’s “decades of distinguished service”, but fell short of being overly critical.
Asked by reporters whether this decision would effectively end McKiernan's military career, Gates replied: "Probably." Douglas MacArthur was greeted with a hero’s welcome upon returning to Washington, and many Senators attempted to rally the retired General to run for President. The plan never got off the ground, as MacArthur faded away from public life.
McKiernan will be replaced by Lt. Gen. Stanley McChrystal,
the director of the Pentagon's Joint Staff who recently ran the special operations forces in Iraq. McChrystal takes over with his own share of controversy. McChrystal came under fire for his role in the delay of acknowledgment of the "friendly fire" death of Army Ranger Pat Tillman, a former NFL player, in Afghanistan in 2004, an incident likely to come up during confirmation.
McChrystal takes the lead as today’s USA headlines scream out about the five US servicemen killed by a fellow soldier at a Baghdad counseling center. No other media source seems to mentioning this, at this writing. This watermarks the deadliest bout of violence between US servicemen since the start of the Iraq war, and should echo through the halls of the Pentagon the urgent need of counseling, training, and just how bad an idea the stop-loss initiative was/is.
All this proves to me that all these West Point types and Politicians alike can’t see the damned trees because they are staring at the forest.
Wake up America!