President Obama fired him as Commander of Armed Forces in Afghanistan, but tossed him a going away “consolation” prize by (very kindly) allowing him to maintain his rank in retirement as a Four Star General. Yet it appears that may not be enough for the dismissed general.
Now there are reports out of Washington that fired Gen. Stanley McChrystal is “crushed” and “shocked” after his transition from commanding nearly 100,000 American troops in Afghanistan to living in embarrassment and exile on the Potomac. Oh?
According to Army regulations, Four Star generals must serve 3 years in that rank before they may keep it in retirement. General McChrystal was awarded his 4th star only last year, when he was made the top American and NATO commander in Afghanistan. But the president can waive that rule — and he did. So, President Obama’s kindness means that McChrystal will receive 85% of the base pay of a Four Star general with 34 years of active service, amounting to an annual income of $181,416. Had he been forced to retire as a Three Star general, McChrystal would have been demoted a rank and only received an income of $160,068. Still, McChrystal is depressed.
Admiral Mike Mullen, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and friend to McChrystal, visited the general the day he was fired, and later told military officials in Kabul that the general and his wife were “crushed” by the turn of events. Other colleagues added that Gen. McChrystal’s metamorphosis from being the nation’s most important general one moment, to its most humiliated the next, was numbing, but stressed that he would recover psychologically and survive professionally. “In time he will put this in perspective because of the contribution he has made to this country, and I think he will at some point make peace with himself,” said Gen. Jack Keane, the retired Vice-Chief of Staff of the Army, who has been in touch by e-mail with General McChrystal. “I suspect he’s thinking he let everybody down, he let his troops down, he let his team down, he let the chain of command down.” REALLY???
This is a guy who PERSONALLY mocked, and/or allowed his staff to mock the President of the United States, the Vice-President of the United States, National Security Adviser Jim Jones, Ambassador Richard Holbrooke, and other senior White House officials. And we should care that he’s feeling a bit down and depressed because he’s no longer as important as he once was??? Well, cry me a river!
