McChrystal and Civil-Military Relations

Eliot Cohen, who is not kind to Obama (and his strategic blunders in Afghanistan), puts the burden on McChrystal's breach of civilian control, "Why McChrystal Has to Go":

It is intolerable for officers to publicly criticize or mock senior political figures, including the vice president or the ambassador (who is, after all, the president's personal representative to a foreign government). It is intolerable for them to publicly ridicule allies. And quite apart from his own indiscretions, it is the job of a commanding general to set a tone that makes such behavior unacceptable on the part of his subordinates.

RELATED: Some interesting links at Instapundit, here and here.

Cross-posted from American Power.