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As we wait for President Obama's decision on how to deal with General McChrystal's civ-mil gaffe, James Joyner at the Atlantic Council has a good summary caused by the Rolling Stone profile of McChrystal.
He concludes: "'Thirteen months ago, when General David McKiernan was fired to bring in McChrystal and his "A team" -- largely, ironically, because McKiernan was considered much less skilled at the Washington politics game -- I observed that "it simply doesn't make sense to change horses at this juncture. While McChrystal is by all accounts a rising star and likely to be superb at this assignment, another change in command is another period of adjustment at a critical time.' Now, it seems we're about to change horses yet again at an even more dire time for the mission."
There are certainly important civil-military implications for the decision, but the decision will also give us a sense of how the Obama team thinks implementation of the Afghanistan strategy is going. Is McChrystal indispensable?
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