In July 2010, when Stanley McChrystal resigned in disgrace, few people questioned it because he had violated military protocol by allowing members of his staff to be quoted by Rolling Stone making comments critical of President Barack Obama, Vice-President Joe Biden, and senior members of their foreign policy team. But it angered Michael Flynn and contributed to making him America’s angriest general.
That’s ironic because Flynn went on to promote the candidacy of Donald Trump and McChrystal went on television on Sunday to condemn Trump in moral terms.
“Is Trump immoral, in your view?” Raddatz asked.
“I think he is,” he said.
McChrystal said he couldn’t tell any of Trump’s supporters “that they are wrong,” but added, “What I would ask every American to do is … stand in front of that mirror and say, ‘What are we about? Am I really willing to throw away or ignore some of the things that people do that are — are pretty unacceptable normally just because they accomplish certain other things that we might like?’
“If we want to be governed by someone we wouldn’t do a business deal with because their — their background is so shady, if we’re willing to do that, then that’s in conflict with who I think we are. And so I think it’s necessary at those times to take a stand.”
McChrystal also discouraged anyone from agreeing to serve as Trump’s Secretary of Defense.
He also cautioned anyone who might fill the vacancy left by Defense Secretary James Mattis’ departure, to consider if their values sufficiently align with those of the president.
“I think maybe it causes the American people to take pause and say, wait a minute, if we have someone who is as selfless and as committed as Jim Mattis resign his position, walking away from all the responsibility he feels for every service member in our forces and he does so in a public way like that, we ought to stop and say, ‘OK, why did he do it?,’” McChrystal said on “This Week.”
“I would ask [potential candidates] to look in the mirror and ask them if they can get comfortable enough with President Trump’s approach to governance, how he conducts himself with his values and with his worldview to be truly loyal to him as a commander in chief and going forward,” McChrystal said. “If there’s too much of a disconnect then I would tell him I think it’s — it would be a bad foundation upon which to try to build a successful partnership at that job.”
McChrystal said he would not take a job in the Trump administration if he were asked.
I don’t know how this is any kind of solution, however, since the country needs someone to run the Pentagon. The logical conclusion is that the president needs to be removed from office.
