Afghanistan links; more to come later (UPDATED)

Mr. President, Don’t Waste this Crisis ; Win the war. "The imposition of a troop-withdrawal deadline, in particular, has poisoned our Afghanistan strategy. McChrystal has, understandably, behaved like a man under pressure to produce quick results to get good marks in the administration’s December Afghanistan strategy review."  Thomas Donnelly and William Kristol

MCCHRYSTAL  "This whole thing will be going down whilst I'm on the air. If you've been following me on Twitter you'll know how I feel. I grew up in a military family ... and the very idea of this community organizer browbeating a four-star general disgusts me. I'm a fan of this civilian control of the military stuff ... and McChrystal crossed the line. But it pains me to see an army career ended by a commander-in-chief who isn't fit to polish his brass." Neal Boortz

On the Carpet Mudville Gazette:  Reasonable people can conclude, and many have, that the comments in the article are just not at the level where a dismissal is warranted. Everyone can read them, and no one can point to any line uttered by the general that challenges the president's strategy or undermines confidence in McChrystal's willingness to implement it. Greyhawk

McChrystal: “I’ve compromised the mission” "Hamid Karzai yesterday issued a strong statement of support for McChrystal, calling him the best American commander in the last nine years in Afghanistan. Will his NATO colleagues feel the same, especially the French, whose social and diplomatic efforts were derided by McChrystal’s team in the article as “f***ing gay”? Or will he be seen as too tightly leashed to the White House now for any reliable independent judgment?"

Analysis: Gen.'s remarks echo troubled Afghan war  "The Republican opposition will likely seize on the McChrystal flap as evidence of Obama's weakness as commander in chief, even though the party supports the president's Afghan policy."

 General Stanley McChrystal has been stitched up by Rolling Stone "If anything, the case for dismissing McChrystal is strengthened by what the article exposes as his failure to win over the hearts and minds of his own men. There is considerable doubt among ordinary soldiers that counterinsurgency is the right strategy, and their commander does not come out of confrontations with them very well. But for insulting behaviour towards the administration? Look elsewhere."

Second-Day Information on the Rolling Stone Article "If you read the Rolling Stone article carefully, you can see that the reporter, Michael Hastings, has woven three stories together. One story is the story of General McChrystal trying to keep up morale in a tough war with his troops thinking he is too worried about civilian casualties and he is forcing them to accept too many risks as consequence. This is also the story of McChrystal feeling under time pressure from Washington. I bet this is the story Hastings pitched to McChrystal's staff and the story McChrystal thought was being reported."