Hugo Chavez Jr. with Jon Krakauer
It seems some in the media feel Obama is taking too much heat for his dithering on Afghanistan troop levels and his disregard for General McChrystal’s dire warning. CNN began impugning the Generals wisdom some weeks ago by trotting out the usual suspects such as former failed Democratic party leadership candidate, retired General Wesley Clark.
The latest is the following, featured on CNN.com:
November 6, 2009Posted: November 6th, 2009 06:24 PM ETWASHINGTON (CNN) – Best-selling author Jon Krakauer sharply criticized Gen. Stanley McChrystal for his handling of former NFL player-turned Army Ranger Pat Tillman’s death, in an interview with CNN scheduled to air Saturday.
Tillman was killed by friendly fire while serving in Afghanistan. Krakauer, author of “Where Men Win Glory: The Odyssey of Pat Tillman,” said that despite seeing reports describing the real cause of Tillman’s death, McChrystal signed paperwork to award him a Silver Star, which is not normally given to victims of friendly fire.
“I think he has a serious blemish on his record,” Krakauer said.
When asked by CNN’s Wolf Blitzer if he thought McChrystal should be in charge of U.S. Forces in Afghanistan, Krakauer answered, “No.”
“If a lesser officer did what McChrystal did, he would be court marshaled according to Article 107 of the Uniform Code of Military Justice, submitting a false official statement,” Krakauer said. “It’s a very serious offense for which you, if you’re found guilty, you can be dishonorably discharged and you can be locked up for five years.”
McChrystal, now the commander of U.S. and NATO forces in Afghanistan, told Congress during his confirmation hearing in June that he made a mistake and misread the report about Tillman’s cause of death. But Krakauer said his explanation was “purged. It’s not believable. It’s preposterous.”
“Someone who is guilty of that kind of offense, and I believe McChrystal is, should not be commander of the forces,” Krakauer said. “It sends a terrible message. I mean, Afghanistan is fighting corruption… And here’s a guy, who five years ago lied to the Senate. He lied to Army investigators. And he submitted this fraudulent document.”
But a Pentagon spokesman said McChrystal still believes that Tillman deserves the Silver Star medal.
“General McChrystal acknowledges that in the aftermath of this confusing and emotionally-charged incident he did not review the award citation carefully enough before forwarding it up the chain of command, but to this day he steadfastly believes Corporal Tillman’s actions before his death warrant the honor,” Pentagon spokesman Geoff Morrell said in a statement.
Joe Klein shouted “Liar” to Barack Obama and was attacked relentlessly. In that case, the issue at hand was one of serious consequences for the American people. Krakauer has just called General Stanley McChrystal a liar and is being sought after by every outlet from MSNBC to the Comedy Central. In this case, it is not only a comparatively minor issue, that of whether Pat Tillman (who, incidentally was deified in the media for abandoning a pro-football career to defend his country and is now villified as not deserving his posthumous medal) deserved the Silver Star. Note that this medal is not “normally given to victims of friendly fire” according to the CNN article. That means is sometimes is? Regardless, McChrystal stated that he misread the account of Tilman’s death and this is the point upon which Krakauer pounces in order to justify his position that the General should not be in charge in Afghanistan and to imply that he should be “dishonorably discharged and…locked up for five years.”
In order to protect Obama from the slings and arrows, CNN, through Krakauer, has decided to go after McChrystal. If they can demonstrate he shouldn’t be in charge in the first place, his recommendations – the ones Obama refuses to adopt – can be dismissed. Of course, there is a major flaw in that reasoning. It seems the interviewer did not press Krakauer as to whether he believes Obama made a mistake in personally hand-picking General McChrystal for the leadership of the Afghanistan military effort. If Krakauer’s position is that McChrystal is unfit to lead, then he must also admit that Obama made a terrible mistake and exercised extremely poor judgment and naivety.
Incidentally, Krakauer was not asked whether former Commander in Chief, Bill Clinton’s actual lies to Congress and the American people should carry the same type of penalties to which he believes McChrystal should be subjected.
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