The general should be required to report to the president the same way privates reported to him when he commanded a company. After stopping three steps away from Obama’s desk, he should have to hold a salute until his superior officer (that’s what the Constitution says Obama is to McChrystal) returns the salute. Then he should be forced to stand at the position of parade rest while the commander-in-chief reads off the formal charge of insubordination.
Make no mistake: if Spec-4 Osborne described his platoon leader to Rolling Stone that way, he’d be lucky to get away with a field grade Article 15 proceeding. In all likelihood, he’d lose all pay, be reduced in rank, get confined to quarters, and have extra duty prior to a dishonorable discharge. That’s what military discipline and the Uniform Code of Military Justice would require.
The president will probably accept the general’s resignation. McChrystal will probably get a two-star retirement (with Republicans fighting to give him a four-star pension instead). What ought to happen, though, is a rejection of the resignation and a court martial. It’s what would happen to any soldier who did the same thing to any other commander.
On the day that generals decide national policy, we have crossed a Rubicon the founders never intended…and I am leaving for Canada never to return. That’s how important this is. Anyone who tells you the general is being treated unfairly has no business in uniform or the government; run from them, for they purpose tyranny.
