Nathan Taylor

The Departure of General McChrystal

General McChrystal has become a hot topic over the past couple days, and with his departure comes the opinions of many–including mine.

Initially, when I heard about the prospect of President Obama firing General McChrystal I was outraged. I knew the General had made some disparaging remarks against the Presidents Administration, but I felt it was the Generals right to speak his mind.

Then I gave it some more thought and realized the consequences of a General not standing with his President and the lasting ramifications to our government. We must as a Nation, stand together and move in the same direction when we are at war. Clearly, General McChrystal violated the chain of command and put President Obama in a tough position.

The real debate here is whether or not the President should have fired McChrystal? After much thought, my opinion is that firing the General was NOT the right move. While I understand why the President did what he did; I offer an alternative.

My view is that the General should have been made to apologize to the President publicly. I believe that in that apology General McChrystal should have stated the importance of the United States Military Standing by their President during a time of war. The fact is that civilians ultimately control and run our Military. It is a long-standing tradition and deals with the balance of power.

I can appreciate the General offering his opinion to the media, but in doing so he really put the President in a bad position. Maybe all we can hope for now is that something is learned from this. What I hate the most is seeing an Honorable, Patriotic, and Brave American end a respectable career on this note.

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