DeFazio: Obama Should Use McChrystal Firing for Revisit of Afghanistan Policy

Willamette Week:

U.S. Rep. Peter DeFazio (D-Ore.) isn’t shedding any tears over President Obama’s decision to can Gen. Stanley McChrystal. The always-opinionated Lane County Democrat went on the House floor this week for a speech ridiculing McChrystal’s approach in Afghanistan as a “fantasy.” And DeFazio urged Obama to use the firing of McChrystal as a time to overhaul U.S. [...]

Read the full article here. Discuss below.

Posted on June 25, 2010
 comments

  • 11:27 a.m.
    Jun 28, '10
    (Show?)

    Yes, Defazio is right that the U.S. should get out. Let the corrupt "national" government of Karzai make deals with the various outlying factions and let everyone in Pak-Afghan get back to doing things the way they have forever: taking care of things locally, with minmal if any national oversight.

    The Economist had an interesting take on McChrystal, in that it said McChrystal's way of command was to be very open and constantly question the progress allegedly being made. The opinion was that that type of leadership will be missed, if the intent is to carry on with the operation. Of course, though, Obama had to fire him, in light of the Rolling Stone piece.

    But The Economist recommends not only a continued operation but even a stepped-up one, which is in line with the thinking that Mchrystal was the right man for the command. On this score, I believe The Economist is wrong in its recommendation of continuance of the operation.

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