Think for a minute. What if a four-star general were to give unprecedented access to a journalist for a profile piece on himself in a newspaper or a magazine? When the article appeared, it would shake the presidency out of its wits. Why? Because the quotes, although unattributed, by the staff working for the general would make fun of the president, calling him and his advisers “wimps.” The president would summon the errant general and fire him.
Such a scenario is unthinkable in Pakistan. First, no journalist would be given such an access (unless he/she happens to be a Bob Woodward prototype); second, no army subordinate would dare mock the president for fear of being court-martialed; third and last, no president would fire a serving general – even if he tried, as Nawaz Sharif did and faced the consequences.
But this happened in America. Except there was no coup after President Obama fired the outspoken General Stanley McChrystal, the Nato commander in Afghanistan. While it’s an open season for the Obama administration to scold our army and its top generals after the bin Laden killing by overtly or covertly threatening Pakistan, the American public has a short memory span. It was less than a year ago that the White House went ballistic when the Rolling Stone magazine carried an in depth profile of McChrystal, the lean and mean general with a hungry look, known to flirt with trouble.
But he’s like a cat with seven lives. He always manages to wriggle out of the quagmire one way or another. Remember, he was accused of lying when he tried to cover up details of Pat Tillman, the former professional football player turned army ranger who was tragically killed by friendly fire seven years ago in Afghanistan? McChrystal was commanding the US troops in the region. The general survived the congressional scrutiny and went on to higher jobs that the Pentagon gave him.
Last June, he got into trouble again. The military man caused the Obama administration huge embarrassment when the story ‘The Runaway General’ came out; explosions went off at the White House and the Pentagon. Inflammatory quotes, ascribed to anonymous sources close to the general in Kabul showed President Obama as being unfit to be the commander-in-chief. Journalist Michael Hastings, who was allowed access to the general and his staffers in Kabul, wrote an article that shook the White House.
Gen McChrystal was quoted as ridiculing Obama and his vice president. “The general prides himself on being sharper than anyone else, but his brashness comes with a price: although McChrystal has been in charge of the war in Afghanistan for only a year, in that short time he has managed to irritate almost everyone with a stake in the conflict,” said an insider. “He never takes his eyes away from the real enemies of the United States: the wimps in the White House.”
That was enough for the White House to summarily summon McChrystal and ask him to explain his offensive conduct. After an acrimonious meeting, the White House fired McChrystal who accepted responsibility for the episode and resigned. He was replaced as the commander in Afghanistan by Gen David Petraeus, his former boss. Petraeus, as we know has recently been named as the next CIA chief by Obama. Was the case closed? No! The Pentagon was not convinced of the guilt of one their best and brightest generals. It decided to conduct an independent inquiry into the whole affair. Earlier last month, the findings of the Pentagon inquiry coincided with the announcement that ‘The Runaway General’ had been nominated for a National Magazine Award. According to army and Pentagon officials, it was found that it was not the “general or senior officers on his staff who made the most egregious comments that led to his abrupt dismissal as the top Afghan commander in June.” The inquiry even “challenged the accuracy of the Rolling Stone profile.”
The executive editor of the Rolling Stone was quick to fire back, maintaining the article was “accurate in every detail,” and actually questioned the Pentagon’s methods in a statement on the magazine’s website: “Much of the report, in fact, confirms our reporting, noting only that the Pentagon was unable to find witnesses ‘who acknowledged making or hearing the comments as reported.’ This is not surprising, given that the civilian and military advisers questioned by the Pentagon knew that their careers were on the line if they admitted to making such comments.”
Who then is lying? The journalist or the Pentagon? One source was highly critical of the journalist saying that after being given “unprecedented access” to McChrystal, the journalist “abused the hospitality he was shown by publishing private conversations between McChrystal and his advisers that were meant to be confidential.”
Others privy to the quotes insist that those identified as “senior aides to the General were quoted disparaging many senior members of the Obama national security team, including one who, in banter with the general, referred to Mr Biden as ‘Bite Me.’ One McChrystal aide was quoted calling Gen James L. Jones, the national security adviser, a “clown,” and General McChrystal himself was described as reacting with disdain upon receiving an e-mail from (the late) Richard Holbrooke, the special representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan.”
Aha ha! If the Pentagon wants to protect its favourites, it makes sure that no harm comes to them. It conducts an in-house inquiry. McChrystal is a case in point. After Obama fired him, he went on to teach at the prestigious Yale University, only to return recently when Obama absolved him of all his misdemeanors and made up by asking him to co-chair a commission on military families during a grand ceremony at the White House.
But if Gen Kayani says that the Pakistan Army will conduct an inquiry into the intelligence failure on bin Laden, the Americans are the first to point fingers. America does not believe what’s good for the goose is good for the gander! A British newspaper was quick to censure Obama by saying that if the Pentagon had found General Stanley McChrystal not guilty of any wrongdoing over his involvement in the infamous Rolling Stone profile of him last year, perhaps President Barack Obama will be man enough to say sorry. “Having publicly humiliated Gen McChrystal by demanding his resignation, the least his commander-in-chief should do now is to make a public apology for his own inexcusable conduct.”
Moral of the story? People who live in glass houses (Pentagon & White House) shouldn’t throw stones at others (GHQ).
anjumniaz@rocketmail.com