Cohen was referring to McChrystal's criticism of President Obama and the administration in the latest Rolling Stone Magazine."I say this as someone who admired and respects Stan McChrystal enormously. The country doesn't know how much good he's done. But this is a firing offense," said Eliot A. Cohen, who served as a counselor to Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice in the latter days of the Bush administration.
The Bush administration never worried about such things as getting another commander up to speed when it would regularly fire generals in disagreement with their "vision" of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Nor were they ever criticized as being against the troops when said commanders were relieved of their duties and forced into early retirement. I have a funny feeling, however, that this time it's going to be viewed differently. Call me crazy.
ADDING... McChrystal has offered his resignation in the wake of his comments.
ALSO ADDING... I was stunned when I read this from the previously linked article quoting Cohen:
Why in the hell does the McChrystal have a public relations team? There is absolutely no reason for anyone in military of the United States, nor the military itself to need public relations for anything. (Recruitment is a separate issue.)The first victim in the controversy was the Pentagon's PR official who set up the interview with McChrystal. NBC reported that Duncan Boothby, a civilian member of the general's public relations team, was "asked to resign."
And as far as Rush Limbaugh leading the righties on how "honorable" McChrystal is, let's not forget that he was a key figure in the Pat Tillman coverup.