Petraeus and Obama: Two of the "Afghanistan Triangle"
There's a little buzz going around the political blogsphere about a rather misguided Washington Times article with this title: "U.S. commander in Afghanistan talked with Obama only once".
Couch potato conservatives, eager to pounce on any story that appears to make President Obama look as if he's out of touch with the American military, have pounced on this with stupid glee.
Stupid because while Gen. Stanley McChrystal is the new U.S. Commander in Afghanistan, he does not have the final say on what happens there and isn't the man with the pipeline to the President. Those persons with such reach are General David Petraeus and Defense Secretary Robert Gates.
It appears that the Washington Times either forgot or didn't know that, first, General McChrystal's title is brand new (translation: he just got the right to furnish his office a month or so after he was named in May), and second and more important, General David Petraeus has had a new title: head of U.S. Central Command since October of last year.
On September 17th, Petraeus gave a lecture explaining the "area of responsibility" of U.S. Central Command, saying:
The CENTCOM region consists of twenty countries – from Egypt in the West to Pakistan in the East, and from Kazakhstan in the North to Yemen and the waters off Somalia to the South. This audience recognizes well, I know, that this region sits astride the traditional land of former empires and the pull of ancient tensions can still be felt in many areas of the region.
In that same speech, General Petraeus outlined what General McChrystal was doing in Afghanistan, explaining:
General McChrystal, the Commander of NATO’s International Security Assistance Force, is employing a comprehensive, counter-insurgency campaign that represents the military implementation plan of NATO’s Comprehensive Approach and of President Obama’s Afghanistan-Pakistan strategy.
General Petraeus is trying to explain that he has General McChrystal there to carry out the President's plans, not to go over Petraeus' or Gates head and meet with Obama.
It's Petraeus who makes the statements about overall strategy in Afghanistan. At the CENCOM website, Petraeus explains that as of April 2009 the situation there was deteriorating and goes on to lay out the "counter-insurgency" approach that's planned.
Again, it's not Gen. McChrystal who's the final spokesperson with the ear of President Obama, it's Gen. Petraeus and Robert Gates. With President Obama they form "The Afghanistan Triangle".
Of course, this important fact doesn't stop conservative bloggers from writing some really off-the-wall statements like "General McChrystal Barack Obama Don't Talk" as is the case at Maggie's Notebook.
At Osmoothie there was no hint of critical thinking about the Washington Times error-in-reporting.
The bloggers over there just gave it a front page place for all to see, warts and all, and even trotted out the comments from, of all people, John Bolton, the former U.S. "Ambassador" to the United Nations who's pugilistic style would plunge America into the next World War if his wild-eyed views held the day.
Thank God they don't and Bolton's safely out of the way.
Couch potato conservatives - who I brand that because they don't do their homework, just haul off and say nutty things, and have no interest in or understanding of policy analysis - have really stuck their foot in it this time. Gen. McChrystal is a ground forces manager, and not assigned to meet with President Obama. That role is the work of Defense Secretary Robert Gates and General Petraeus, both who talk to President Obama on a regular basis.
In fact, Petraeus and Gates met with Obama today.
In any discussion of the military its important to have a clear understanding of, or at least pay attention to, the chain of command. By not doing this, conservative bloggers have made an incredible blunder.
