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| Obama did the right thing: Now time to move on |
2010-06-23 00:00:00.0 |
President Obama's decision to accept Gen. McChrystal's resignation was the right thing to do. McChrystal demonstrated not just only poor judgment, but disrespect for the chain of command and the civilian leadership. The comments attributed to the general and members of his inner circle were rude, impolite, childish and inappropriate.
The mission in Afghanistan is far too important for one man to completely distract us from its completion.
After months of painstaking review and internal deliberations, President Obama accepted the general's assessments and ratified his counter-insurgency strategy. Just as important as it is to gain the trust and cooperation of the Afghanistan people and leadership to complete our mission, it is vital that those in charge of its implementation adhere to the proper protocols and respect of the chain of command.
Gen. McChrystal has served his country with honor and distinction. But it's clear he does not respect those ultimately responsible for shaping U.S. war policy. Gen. Petraeus, who also backed the strategy now under way, will now have to boost troop morale to ensure the success of the coalition's efforts.
As for the president's strident and vociferous critics, they are going to go on the attack either way. The important factor now is for the U.S. and it allies to complete the mission and bring our brave troops home soon.
Donna Brazile, a Democratic strategist, is vice chairwoman for voter registration and participation at the Democratic National Committee, a nationally syndicated columnist and an adjunct professor at Georgetown University. She was the campaign manager for the Al Gore-Joe Lieberman ticket in 2000.
The opinions expressed in these commentaries are solely those of the authors.
http://www.cnn.com/2010/OPINION/06/23/opinions.on.mcchrystal/
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