Frankly, I am surprised at McChrystal. Most Special Forces people are more intelligent than that...well, maybe not the generals. As I understand it, they were all in the process of getting drunk together. Since when does a 4 star general in the Army get drunk with a few staff peons and a reporter? That alone was bad enough judgement to deserve being fired. This sounds more like the behavior of a bunch of those juvenile Blackwater mercenary guys..certainly not someone from West Point.

Pull the troops out of Afghanistan and spend a few hundred million more on predator drones. It's a corrupt tribal country, one where almost nobody trusts the central government. If we really wanted to conquer the place, why not just build a few hundred Walmart stores there, throw up a few thousand fast food places, open some payday loan stores, and give'em all free internet and cable TV. In 10 years they'd be like sheep.

I like those ideas, Wake! Then they can all die from heart disease the same way so many Americans do.--Leveling the playing field?

And didn't I tell you--?

Gen. Stanley McChrystal, who was fired last week as the top U.S. general in the stalemated Afghanistan war, told the Army on Monday that he will retire.

[lquote}Army spokesman Col. Tom Collins tells Fox News that McChrystal has informed the office that handles retirements for the Army, which is the General Officer Management Office, that he intends to retire.

The Army has not received McChrystal's official paperwork. In that, he will include a date by which he would like to retire. Then he will go through a formal process leading to retirement.[/quote]

Whether or not he'll retire as a 4-star rather than a 3-star will only make a difference in his retirement pay and prestige. He was only promoted to 4 stars last year, so he'll probably retire as a 3-star. I imagine his staff will also request retirement since their 'party' has pretty much ruined their careers, as well.

"Propriety" is very much a part of the officer corps within the US Military and extends down to the children. Of an officer can't lead his children, how can he lead the children under his command. As a 4-star, Gen. McChrystal should have known that from the time his Lieutenant's bar was pinned onto his uniform.

I apologize to all the men and women who understand this and abide by it. McChrystal has shown himself to be much less the leader that you deserve and much less than what you should expect.

He's retiring with 4 stars, even though he doesn't have the time in grade.

There have been hints that Gen. Patraeus may have the political and diplomatic finesse needed to get the troops out of Afghanistan within the time frame the President set--next July. How much he'll have to promise the Afghan government remains to be seen, but be assured, he'll have to promise something which may or may not lessen the flow of money into the country.

If I may hazard a guess, I think it'll have a lot to do with investment money and mining, two things Russia didn't do when she pulled her military out.

Admiral Chester Nimitz had a rule: every dog gets two bites. If he hadn't had this rule, both Halsey and Spruance would have been fired for blunders in 1942. But he had it and it paid off. This General had seven bites and he didn't learn. It's time for him to go write his book.