Reporter believed McChrystal was ‘untouchable’

[TomCADem]

Source: NBC Today

The writer whose Rolling Stone article brought down Gen. Stanley McChrystal said he never thought his reporting would bring about the effective end of McChrystal’s career, as well as a crisis for the Obama administration.

“I did not think Gen. McChrystal would be fired. In fact, I thought his position was basically untouchable,” freelance journalist Michael Hastings told TODAY’s Matt Lauer via satellite from Kabul, Afghanistan, Thursday. “I thought it would give them a headache for maybe 72 hours.”

* * *
Hastings has said that everything he was told was on the record, and Rolling Stone editors have said that neither McChrystal nor his staff tried to get the magazine to delete or change any quotes during the magazine’s fact-checking process before publication.

But, Hastings told Lauer, he did receive pressure from the general’s staff to change some of his intended reporting.


Read more: http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/37893363/ns/today-today_people/

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Interesting article from the perspective of the Rolling Stones' reporter, and his perception that the General was untouchable. Apparently, like McArthur, McChrystal also thought he was untouchable.

[no_hypocrisy]

1. Not exactly.

[damntexdem]

2. The difference between untouchable and unreachable.

And then there's untrainable. ;-)

[Iliyah]

3. PLEASE!!!!!!!!!!

is this reporter dumb or what. The General, his staff, and this reporter knew exactly what they were doing, to shame the country to the world.

[Iggo]

7. The general did this on purpose to shame the country?

I like you!

[ronnie624]

13. Few countries have ever been in greater need of shaming. n/t

[elias49]

4. I'm still amazed that the article was published!

It shows either incredible arrogance on the part of McChrystal and co., or plain stupidity.
Michael Hasting's career just took a hairpin turn. Anyone else see a possible Pulitzer in his future??

[KurtNYC]

5. I loved the part when McChrystal got on the phone with the reporter's

mother and she says "Be bold and mighty forces will come to your aid."

...oh wait, that was in the original version of "Almost Famous"

[Iggo]

9. 'I like what we're saying!'

-- Signed: Ben Fong Torres

[dgibby]

6. Reporter believed McChrystal was ‘untouchable’

Evidently so did McChrystal.

[SemperEadem]

8. McChrystal brought about his own demise

no one else did it for him.

His pride took over his mouth and his good sense abandoned him. His staff of "yes men" also didn't help his cause.

the only person to hang blame around is mcchrystal himself. period.

[donco]

10. I still have this nagging feeling

that McChrystal set this up because he wants a political career. Think about it, McChrystal Palin, on the same ticket…teabagger Valhalla. Am I paranoid?

[snagglepuss]

15. I share that suspicion. McMeth seems way too devious and clever to

hang himself by mistake. OTOH overweening arrogence is dangerous so its not inconceiveable that McMeth hung himself by accident.

[TomCADem]

19. That Would Require McChrystal To Be Humble Enough To Admit...

...to himself that he was wrong, and cowardly enough not own up to it, and finally a complete turncoat who will then blame his friend, General Patreaus, for the failure to properly execute the plan that he largely developed. Also, to avoid being blamed for his stupidity and arrogance in talking to Rolling Stone, he would also need to spread rumors that he did this on purpose while publicly denying such rumors so that he is not seen as a treasonous bastard.

In other words, General MacArthur was egotistical enough to believe that he could stick to Truman, but in McChrystal's case, your suggestion is that McChrystal is humble enough to know he was about to fail, and a coward who could not see it through, or own up to his failure. Finally, the Rolling Stones reporter had to be part of the conspiracy, because he naively is providing cover by saying that he thought McChyrstal was untouchable.

I think it is more likely that McChrystal simply was overcome by his ego, surrounded by "yes man," and the reporter's belief in McChrystal's invincibility was due to McChrystal's ease with which he disparaged civilian leaders in Washington. If MacArthur can fall victim to his ego, then so can General Stan.

[MineralMan]

11. Too Arrogant to Fail, eh?

Guess not.

[LibertyLover]

12. Apparently this reporter never heard of either

General McClellan or General MacArthur and how their insubordination worked out? Of course McChrystal probably forgot about them too.

[Hawkowl]

14. General did it on purpose

He knew that the US was losing in Afghanistan and that his strategy had failed. So he comes out publicly blaming the civilian officials for his own shortcomings. He knew he would be fired and this way he can make himself a martyr rather than a General West moreland responsible for losing Vietnam or General McClellan who was fired for lack of progress/incompetence by Lincoln.

Basically he backed the president into a corner and chose career suicide so he could spin his own demise on his own terms.

[RobinA]

16. Maybe....

I could almost believe this if we were talking about anybody but the military. This just doesn't seem like a guy who's so military he's a general. And in Rolling Stone yet. On the other hand, there is the argument as to how anybody dumb enough to have this happen to him gets to be a general. I'm thinking hung byb his own arrogance.

[Hawkowl]

17. Perhaps

We'll never know for sure. I am prone to giving people too much credit on how smart they are. Perhaps Occam's razor should be applied here. In which case, McChrystal is just an arrogant, loose cannon whose been operating without close supervision abroad too long.

[Gin]

18. I agree.....at least he won't be the one who lost the war in Afghanistan

he kicked that can down the road...still gets all his military benefits in retirement(that will be news next)and all he suffers is some bad press for a few weeks.

[western mass]

20. Exactly...he took the coward's way out.

But we wouldn't expect anything more from Bush & Cheney's lackey.