Competence Required

Not yet four full months in office, and President Obama has done yet one more thing that his predecessor never did. A war is going poorly and he has fired the general in charge of that war. Wow, how encouraging is that?

Gen. David McKiernan has been removed from command after just eleven months and, which seems notable to me if to no one else, immediately after an air strike that kills more than 100 noncombatants. (We are, of course, claiming not to have done the deed but nobody with half a brain is believing us.) In the past administration failed generals were promoted to Chief of Staff and/or given medals. In this administration they are fired.

His replacement, General McChrystal, has a background in Special Forces. I don’t place much significance on the issue of him being “buddies” with David Petreaus; he could hardly be holding a command in Iraq and not be well acquainted with that theatre’s overall commander. The first part, speaking without ground force military expertise, seems encouraging to me. Special Forces are known for the “surgical strike” type of combat, and it seems to me that a commander of that background will lighten our footprint and be less inclined to call in large airstrikes.

There is the disturbing claim in his background that, one day after signing off on a Silver Star for Pat Tillman having been killed by “withering enemy fire,” General McChrystal sent a memo saying that Tillman’s death was suspicious, indicating that he may have known that the death may have been due to friendly fire instead. That has never been cleared up and is a bit disturbing in such a high-level commander.

There is also a faintly disturbing note in McKiernan’s removal. About two months ago US Gen. John Craddock, overall NATO commander, ordered that all persons involved in drug trafficking, whether or not Taliban-related, anyone connected in anyway to Opium smuggling or growing could be fired upon. McKiernan objected publicly to this order, said that it was contrary to International Law, and said that he would not follow it; ordered his men not to follow it as well. Craddock has since walked backwards from the order, but there are a few voices murmuring that McKiernan was removed for bucking NATO command.

I’m inclined to discount the doubt-casters and think that Obama has taken a step in a better direction in what remains, at best, a doubtful war.