McChrystal May Have Accelerated a Policy Change to a Very Foolish War

Stupid, Pointless, and Ineffective War

By Henry Blodget in the Business Insider

In hindsight, General McChrystal bet his job on the article, and we can imagine that he now feels pretty stupid and awful about it.  But unlike so many others in our country, Gen. McChrystal didn’t react to this mistake by blaming someone else.  He accepted responsibility and took the consequences–which, after the fact, is all anyone could ask him to do.

And although we’re sure that General McChrystal, the Army, and the Obama administration view the article as a complete disaster, we actually don’t think it was. 

Specifically, we want to thank Gen. McChrystal for something.

We want to thank him for reminding us about what a stupid, pointless, and ineffective war we’re fighting in Afghanistan.  We want to thank him for forcing Defense Secretary Robert Gates to admit that progress in Afghanistan is much slower than he had hoped.  We want to thank Gen. McChrystal for refocusing the country’s attention on our latest quagmire, one that, at this rate, will eventually last longer than Vietnam.

If General McChrystal’s replacement General Petraeus can turn things around in Afghanistan, then the article will have been very helpful to the country.  Similarly, if the renewed attention to Afganistan reminds Americans of how little we have accomplished, how much money and time we have spent, and how many lives have been lost, the article might lead to a speedier end to the war.