Politics

I guess there is a big ruckus building over a Rolling Stone profile of General Stanley McChrystal. If you weren’t aware, he is the top commander of coalition efforts in Afghanistan. It should probably be pointed out that he does not appear to have too high an opinion of the current civilian administration.

Now, I have not read the article yet. In fact I have it printed out right here and it is slated for immedate reading during lunch today. I wouldn’t be the least bit surprised if I agreed with most of what the General and his staff might say about the current civilian administration.

And it won’t matter.

Not one bit.

For better or worse, and probably for better, we have a government predicated on the concept of civilian control over the military. The main reason is to prevent the rise of a tyrant.

Is McChrystal a tyrant in the making? Ah, I doubt that. But there is something more basic, pertaining to military bearing.

You see, it is a bad idea to badmouth the Boss. We all know this but in the military there is a line about “Disrespecting your superiors.” In fact, it is actionable to a certain degree, though my memory is a bit fuzzy on how actionable it is.

There is another line, “Respect the rank, even if you do not respect the person who holds it.”

If you can’t swallow that one then you probably need to hang up the soldier suit. I finally reached a point where I couldn’t swallow it anymore. Getting led into an ambush (training, not actual) by a Sergeant First Class who had been out of uniform for a decade sealed the deal on that score. But I might add that I didn’t have a shred of respect for the President during that time in American History either.

So the General made some candid, probably honest, perhaps even valid remarks. The Sergeant I just mentioned was and I’m sure still is a perfect fucking idiot. I knew he was an idiot the day he showed up to take over the squad I was in. He continued to operate as an idiot up to the very day I left the Army.

And what is worse is that this asshole wasn’t the first. I had to suffer through a very long list of dipshits, dumbasses and quarter-wits while in uniform.

There was the 2LT who tried to fire his weapon with the muzzle cap still in place.

There was the Sergeant during the Gulf War who liked to say, “I can shoot you for disrespecting me in a combat zone. Did you know that?”

There was the Battery Commander who seemed to have an unerring ability to place our camp site in the perfect location for a flood. This same asshole thought it be a bright idea to dig a perimeter trench using e-tool. This same trench, when completed, was buried and replaced by another dug by a backhoe a day later, prompting some discussion as to who to shoot.

The Battery Commander or the backhoe driver.

There were the NCOs that were boinking the enlisted subordinates in my unit during the year in Korea.

There was a Company Commander who tried to throw me out of the Army when I was less than thirty days from getting out on my own power by way of End of Enlistment.

He makes a cameo in one of Birmo’s novels, btw.

A very brief cameo.

None of it matters. You can’t disrespect your superiors when in uniform, especially if they are civilian leaders elected by the populace.

So at the end of the day, I suspect the Good General is going to pay for his remarks. His career is probably over. No promotion to the Joint Chiefs of Staff. No cush job advising the current administration in a civilian capacity.

It is too bad, because at the end of the day, I suspect that when I read this article I am going to find that I agree with everything McChrystal said.

Note

I read the article. It is pretty tame if you ask me. If Obama got upset over this then you really have to wonder. I thought Clinton had a petty, pathetic temper.

My opinion of the current President has slid a notch or two I believe.

Respects,
Steven Francis Murphy
Author of The Limb Knitter and Tearing Down Tuesday
North Kansas City, Missouri