General Chaos

So General McChrystal is out. They say that Obama would have looked weak if he had not demanded the General’s resignation but I think this was a big mistake. Admittedly, I have never been in the military but I have worked for large corporations. And this experience tells me there are going to be problems that no one is addressing.

If you’ve read the Rolling Stones article you would learn that it was McChrystal’s teamwho were making sarcastic, impertinent remarks about the Vice President and other White House staff, including one remark about the President himself. So tossing out the General doesn’t address the low morale and “insubordination” of his aides and many of the troops in Afghanistan. In fact it will only serve to increase their anger. I know. I have lived through a similar incident in corporate life.

A few years ago corporate headquarters swooped down on my division and fired my division GM, my boss and two others. The word was that a major reason for the firing was that they had not been cooperating with corporate headquarters. I was immediately tapped to replace my boss and a few weeks later told that in a month my department would no longer be a part of my division but would report to a corporate department which was headquartered in the next state. I knew this would be a disastrous decision on many levels. But was I going to argue with them having just seen my boss fired for not cooperating? Nope. I lightly mentioned my concerns but then immediately shut up since I wanted to keep my job. I knew morale in my department was rock bottom but not much I could do other than sympathize with them and try to find some silver lining. Luckily we were literally saved at the last minute and the decision was cancelled. It only took a few months before the new GM admitted that moving my department would have been a huge mistake. Ironically within three years the “new” GM held corporate in even more contempt then the prior leader so no surprise that corporate eventually asked him to leave, too. Again morale plummeted.

Substitute the White House for corporate headquarters and you have a very similar situation. Our troops are unhappy and are being asked to perform under nearly impossible restrictions. And now the man they served under and, based on all indications, loved, was forced to retire by an administration that the article shows they already disdained. Plus let’s face it, soldiers are not among the most liberal group and now their far-left Commanding Chief, who knows nothing about the military, by the way, has thrown out their General.

I bet there will be a lot of really pissed off soldiers tonight. And yet now they will be afraid to say a word which will further erode morale. You see, one thing McChrystal understood, although it may also have been his downfall, is that sometimes it helps to let a team bitch and moan. Attitude readjustment sessions (also called Martini happy hour) are helpful to the morale of a team. But now you can be sure they won’t utter a word against Obama. And I can only imagine how low our troops morale must be tonight.

Maybe instead of firing McChrystal, Obama should have chewed him out but then bought him a drink and sat and listened to this soldier’s General. Obama might have learned something and come out as the bigger man.