He had to go: Gen. Stanley McChrystal could not serve commander in chief after article

It is not a matter of whether or not he was right or whether Gen. Stanley McChrystal knew better than the nation's commander in chief how to run a war.

It does not even matter that he might very well have been a general trying to win a war who was shackled by poor decision-making from the White House.

The minute McChrystal spoke to a magazine writer about his boss in such a derogatory manner, he had to move on to another job.

The time to chat about what you really think about U.S. policy in Afghanistan and your boss, President Barack Obama, is not while you have the lives and morale of thousands of young men and women in your hands.

Perhaps McChrystal knew what he was doing  and hoped that he could get himself out and light shown on a battle plan that he did not think was the right one. Perhaps he was trying to shake things up so something would change.

And perhaps he simply trusted the wrong person.

At any rate, resigning was the right thing to do.

Now, we move forward, with a first-class new commander and the chance to shift direction.

And that, right now, is the most important thing.

Published in Editorials on June 24, 2010 10:29 AM