Public Comment

Obama Sacks McChrystal  

I applaud Obama's sacking of Gen. McChrystal. We don't need a cowboy with no respect for civilian control of the military running the show in Afghanistan. However, littlemention is made in the media about hisactive role in creating the impression that Cpl. Pat Tillman had died at the hands of Taliban fighters instead of beingaccidentally killed by his own troops. He signed off on a falsified recommendation for a Silver Star that suggested Tillman had been killed by enemy fire. Tillman's mother, Mary, in her book Boots on the Ground by Dusk wrote that McChrystal got away with it because he was the "golden boy" of Rumsfeld and Bush. Nine days after Tillman's death, McChrystal was promoted to major general.  

McChrystal was also involved in a scandal involving detainee abuse and torture at Camp Nama in Iraq. According to a report by Human Rights Watch, prisoners at the camp were subjected to abuse, including stress positions and being dragged naked through the mud. McChrystal was not disciplined in the scandal, even though an interrogator at the camp reported seeing him inspect the prison multiple times.  

Why did the media and Congress give him a pass during his confirmation hearings? Instead, he was sent to run the war in Afghanistan.