...or should army generals be more like umpires, doing their best work invisibly?

What do we make of Lt. General Stanley McChrystal? This is a tough one. Like General Patraeus, McChrystal is no poster boy for "kill 'em all and let God sort them out". He is intelligent, well educated, thoughtful & media savvy. His appearance on 60 Minutes was a clear and well presented statement of our goal in Afghanastan. He did not attempt to convince anyone of the righteousness of America's role in the region. He merely explained how he intended to proceed with the mission as he understood it. Seven years of Bush/Cheney and nine months of Obama/Biden have been less successful at explaining what we are trying to accomplish in this moonscape of a country. We were impressed.


Nevertheless, it was General McChrystal who was the pentagon pointman for the most disgraceful saga of the Bush Administration's pursuit of the absurd, obscene war in East Asia; the whitewash and cover-up of the death of Pat Tillman. As most people, know Pat Tillman was a highly regarded professional football player for the Arizona Cardinals who, in response to the attacks of 9-11, left a $3.6 million contract on the table to enlist in the Army Rangers. After two tours in Iraq and Afghanistan he was killed on April 22,2004.


Initially, Tillman's death was presented by the Army and the White House as the tragic loss of a true American patriot killed in the line of duty. This was six months before the presidential election and the Bush people were in the fight of their lives. A war hero was just what the doctor ordered. (Dr. Karl Rove, that is.) The White House had McChrystal and General John Abizaid, head of U.S. Army Central Command, award Tillman a Silver Star and posthumous promotion. A later investigation by General Gary Jones learned that Tillman was killed by friendly fire, possibly even intentionally. Subsequent investigations prove that both Abazaid and Gen. McChrystal knew of the circumstances of Tillman's death and proceeded with the cover-up and the awards. McChrystal actually wrote the details of the purported firefight that killed Tillman, singling him out for valor.



At Tillman's funeral, broadcast on national TV, senior military officers were told to lie to the Tillman family as were the attending members of Tillman's unit. Were it not for the tenacity of the Tillman family, determined to get the truth, the Army and the Bush White House might have succeeded with the whitewash. Pat Tillman was a true American hero. He didn't need the liars and spinmasters of the Bush White House to provide fake medals and bogus awards.



As for Stanley McChrystal, he wouldn't be the first good soldier to do a bad thing. He appears to understand what's needed in Afghanistan. We need a way out. We don't need "Wag the Dog".