Remember Vietnam?? To keep the Northern Stalinists from killing 200,000 Southerners, the US prolonged a Civil War and spread it to Cambodia at the price of over 4 million dead, millions maimed, millions with mental problems, families split up, money and lives wasted, and crops destroyed. And the Stalinists killed their 200,000 anyway. And at home, the FREEDOM we got entailed: deficits, drug addicts, inflation, wage-and-price controls, the end of the Gold Standard, Watergate, and Jimmy Carter.

What price Afghanistan! Dumber even than Vietnam!

What is even more revealing is that Ilana Mercer noticed this simple fact while so many Americans did not. Now the General must offer his resignation and the President must accept it. The next guy needs to declare victory and recommend to the President that we get the hell out of Afghnaistan having accomplished the mission of scaring the hell out of cave dwellers,having established an unstable government of drug lords in Afghanistan more favorable to US demands than the old taliban and having destablized the only country in the region with nuclear weapons — Pakistan. Thank you duopoly for jobs well done.

Althought politics are going to be involved in being a 4-star general, they should be played behind the scenes. Regardless of what McChyrstal said, the idea of having a Rolling Stone writer having the kind of access to the general and his staff is irresponsible.

Politicing in public is not the way military Generals should behave. Yes being a General in the military is unfortunately a political job as well as one of military leadership. However, questioning the Commander in Chief, and other policy advisors should be done in private. Once a critical decision is made as a General you have two choices 1) salute smartly and follow orders, or 2) resign and try to effect policy decisions from a position outside the Military. One point of clarification: if you are being ordered to do something illegal or unethical by all means object but, don’t do it via a free lance Rolling Stone reporter, or a New York Time reproter for that matter, while on duty!

The Academies no longer have the prestige they once did. McChrystal got the job because he’s got his Ranger and Special Forces tabs, and those guys rule the roost these days. The little fabric tabs on the shoulder and jump wings on the chest have replaced the West Point ring in a lot of ways.

Incidentally, the blue badge McChrystal wears above his ribbons is the Expert Infantryman Badge, which is given upon completion of a field course. If he’d been to war that badge would have a wreath around it (the Combat Infantryman Badge that you see in all the Vietnam movies). The good general has seen no combat.