I run my unit how I run my unit. You want to investigate me, roll the dice and take your chances. I eat breakfast three hundred yards away from four thousand Cubans who are trained to kill me. So don't think for one second that you can come down here, flash a badge and make me nervous.
There's an article on Huffington Post today on what constitutes fair journalistic practices.
In brief, CBS's Lara Logan asserts that the old unspoken agreement is alive and well. In other words, "human foibles" like cursing, insults and off-color comments should be self-censored by journalists, who risk losing the trust of their subjects if they don't.
In response, Matt Taibi calls bullshit. Taibi's assertion: McChrystal and everyone in his "Team America" entourage knew full well that Michael Hastings was a Rolling Stone reporter, and if they couldn't keep unfortunate words from passing their lips in his presence, well, too bad for them. Incidentally, Taibi claims that he does not know Hastings, and his blog was not in defense of Hastings or Rolling Stone magazine's journalistic policy.
As some of you might recall, in the movie "A Few Good Men", Tom Cruise's character (Lt. Kaffee), lacks any hard evidence that Jack Nicholson's character (Col. Jessep) ordered a "Code Red", an unauthorized disciplinary procedure that results in the accidental death of a soldier under Jessep's command in Cuba.
Kaffee reads the situation and Jessep's psyche perfectly - at Gitmo in Cuba, Jessep is God, and he is chafing at having to come to Washington to testify at a court martial. Kaffee realizes that Jessep actually wants to admit he ordered the Code Red, and by doing so tell all of those rear-echelon military bureaucrats to shove their regulations up their collective asses. All Kaffee has to to do is give Jessep the opportunity to confess.
Well, guess what - Hastings didn't even have to do that much. McChrystal and his "Team America" were absolutely itching to crow about the fact that they were in charge of Afghanistan, and how inconsequential and "gay" all the diplomacy was.
What they failed to understand were the consequences of what would happen when their blatant disrespect for civilian authority became public.
Despite having very little in common with them other than love of country, I have no animus towards gung-ho career warriors like General McChrystal and his band of brothers. In fact I respect their service, dedication to duty, and their unwavering focus on their mission. For General McChrystal personally, it is an unfortunate end to what appears to be a very distinguished career.
But, like the themes explored in "A Few Good Men", there is a fine line between the rule of law and the necessities of combat, and General McChrystal clearly crossed it.