The Befuddling Cluelessness of Bruce Ackerman

The integrity of General Stanley McChrystal has been attacked. According to the writer, Bruce Ackerman, McChrystal has grievously violated the concept of civilian control by 1) having his Afghanistan assessment leaked and 2) making a speech in which all salient points were already known and much discussed. What’s really going on in Ackerman's article?

Let’s start by looking at what the oath of office actually says.

"I, _____, do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; and that I will obey the orders of the President of the United States and the orders of the officers appointed over me, according to regulations and the Uniform Code of Military Justice. So help me God."

So how was the oath violated? Clearly, it wasn’t.

A better question would be who leaked the report and why? Ackerman has apparently used his powers of ESPN (that’s a joke, not a typo) to accomplish a mind-meld investigation of McChrystal and determined he’s the leaker. I don’t know how big McChrystal’s staff is, but I’m guessing it’s pretty big, so there are plenty of potential leakers to run to ground. Likewise, there are those outside his staff who would have had access to the same. So why does Ackerman blame McChrystal?

Does Ackerman want McChrystal to provide his best military advice or to be a voice actuated switch? Voice actuated switch seems to be preferred.

Finally, McChrystal didn’t pick himself for this job. According to previously published reporting, the SecDef and CJCS thought McChrystal was the right man to lead this challenging endeavor.  Chances are excellent that General McChrystal didn’t get to be a four-star by ignoring the oath of office, classification guidelines, common sense, civilian control and yes, politics.