General Disagreement

Gen. Stanley McChrystal, commander of all U.S. and NATO forces in Afghanistan, deserved to be fired for comments he and his staff made in a magazine article that are unflattering to America's civilian leadership — including the commander in chief.

However, his resignation will not solve the problems the Obama administration faces — internally and externally — with its Afghanistan policy.

McChrystal demonstrated disrespect for authority and an appalling lack of judgment for his and his aides' remarks to Rolling Stone (warning: salty language) about President Obama, Vice President Biden, National Security Adviser Jim Jones, Ambassador Karl Eikenberry, Special Envoy Richard Holbrooke and administration policy.

It is not unusual for officers to disagree with their superiors, but they do so in private. If they believe the situation is untenable, they do the honorable thing by resigning and then going public with their opinions. Airing them on the record to a reporter while in uniform is unbecoming and can be damaging to discipline and morale and potentially beneficial to the enemy.

It's not about being right or wrong, or a popularity contest between personalities. It's about being insubordinate and self-centered.

Commanders of far greater accomplishment than McChrystal have been cashiered for publicly sniping at their civilian leaders — think of Gen. Douglas MacArthur and Gen.

George S. Patton. From Abraham Lincoln to Harry Truman to Barack Obama, the ultimate authority rests not with a man, but with a constitutional office. The United States has a long, proud — and quite effective — history of civilian control of the military. Its protocols cannot be breached.

If McChrystal has earned his walking papers, he should have plenty of company. The United States is losing in Afghanistan, and it has been a team effort.

Tensions between McChrystal and the State Department had been evident for months; indeed, Eikenberry was the first to publicly air the dirty laundry with a leaked memo last fall. Biden and Defense Secretary Robert Gates have publicly contradicted each other on Afghanistan policy. Combat infantry in Afghanistan have complained about overly restrictive rules of engagement that have resulted in the unnecessary deaths of American and coalition forces.

This week, a congressional investigation found that private security contractors protecting the convoys that supply U.S. military bases in Afghanistan are paying millions of dollars a week in bribes to the Taliban and other insurgent groups to ensure safe travel along Afghan roads. The contractors are reimbursed by the U.S. government — meaning we are funding the enemy we are supposed to be trying to defeat.

What a mess.

Ongoing internal dissent over policy and public sniping among administration members and military commanders falls on one desk — it's in the Oval Office. President Obama ultimately bears responsibility for not resolving these disputes and crafting a more coherent strategy in Afghanistan.

REPRINTED FROM THE PANAMA CITY NEWS HERALD.

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