Following up on the theme of listening to generals, I was struck by the comments of retired General Tony Zinni, a former head of Central Command, on Face the Nation today. He urged President Obama to make a rapid decision in favor of giving General McChrystal the troops he needs. “I think we have to be careful how long this goes on,” he said. “It could be seen not only out there in the region but our allies, even [by] the enemy, as being indecisive, unable to make a decision.”

Why isn’t the White House listening to its own handpicked general, he demanded to know? “We have a general out there who is probably the best qualified we could have that’s telling us what we need on the ground to have the security space and the time to get those non-military things done. I just don’t understand why we’re questioning that judgment at this point. I hope this doesn’t go on much longer.”

Zinni, who has been known for his cutting attacks in the past on “neocons” and his opposition to the invasion of Iraq, is not someone who can be conveniently pigeonholed. He is very much an idiosyncratic, independent thinker. The White House should find it significant that he is joining the chorus of respected generals, active-duty and retired, who urge the president to support General McChrystal.

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This entry was posted on Sunday, October 4th, 2009 at 1:55 PM and is filed under Contentions. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Responses are currently closed, but you can trackback from your own site.