Rebutal to: Generals Need to Shut Up and Salute

First off we cannot afford to lose the battle in Afghanistan, its imperative that we fight this battle with all we got and complete the mission and win the war in Afghanistan. If the United States abandoned Afghanistan or fight this war with half measures and half steps or don’t come up with a winning plan we will look like a bunch of losers. So maybe Eugene Robinson should shut the hell up because the OBAMA administration is doing a horrible job prosecuting this war. I think I am going to trust the Generals over an administration that lacks military experience or even a working understanding of the military.

In my opinion Defense Secretary Robert Gates is inept and part of the problem, I don’t know what the heck his problem is maybe he should start listening the generals on the ground and devising a plan that will secure the peace in Afghanistan. If the generals on the ground want more troops then they need more troops. Time to give the general on the ground what they need to be successful.

This week too many US service men have died and I blame this current administration who is incompetent and lacks the ability to come up with a coherent plan to do anything and owns this mess we have now. It’s time to stop blaming Bush and do your job, let’s fight this war to win then get the hell out. It would appear that it’s time for a General David Petraeus surge.

How to proceed in Afghanistan will be among the most difficult and fateful decisions that President Obama ever makes. But he's the one who has to decide, not his generals. The men with the stars on their shoulders -- and I say this with enormous respect for their patriotism and service -- need to shut up and salute.

Gen. Stanley McChrystal, the commander of U.S. and NATO forces in Afghanistan, is entitled to his opinion about the best way forward. But he has no business conducting a public campaign to build support for his preferred option, which is to send tens of thousands more troops into a country once called the "graveyard of empires."

McChrystal's view -- that a strategy employing fewer resources, in pursuit of more limited goals, would be "short-sighted" -- is something the White House needs to hear. He is, after all, the man Obama put in charge in Afghanistan, and it would be absurd not to take his analysis of the situation into account. But McChrystal is out of line in trying to sell his position publicly, as he did last week in a speech in London.

Defense Secretary Robert Gates was right to lay down the law. Gates said Monday that it is "imperative" that military and civilian leaders "provide our best advice to the president candidly but privately." I believe that's Pentagon-speak for: "Put a sock in it, Stan." [Real Clear Politics]