When Presidents Fail to Listen to Generals from Planck's Constant

General George S. Patton was arguably the greatest soldier who ever lived. After the Germans surrendered in May of 1945, he saw that the Red Army was weak and vulnerable and tried to persuade his superiors that it was the perfect time to chase the Soviets out of central and eastern Europe. Sadly, we had a defeatist coward in the White House (Truman) who was afraid of the Soviets.

The Soviets in 1945 were not in any position to fight a war with America. But we didn't listen to Patton and his big mouth caused him to be fired (and some say, assassinated; read Target: Patton: The Plot to Assassinate General George S. Patton). We spent the next 54 years trying to contain Soviet expansion.

Another great soldier, General Douglas MacArthur wanted to nuke the border between North Korea and China in 1950 during the Korean War to prevent the Chinese from entering the war or supplying the North Koreans. Sadly, we had the same defeatist coward in office who was afraid of the Chinese. in March of 1951 President Harry Truman sent a ceasefire order to MacArthur. Instead, MacArthur issued an ultimatum demanding China's surrender. We didn't listen to MacArthur and his big mouth caused him to be fired.

The Chinese in 1950 were not in any position to fight a war with America. Ironically, a few years later the JCS recommended the use of tactical nuclear weapons in Korea and China, but it was too late by then. We spent the next 60 years fighting limited wars in Korea, Vietnam, Kosovo, and yes, even Afghanistan.

Had we listened to Patton, there would have been no invasion of Afghanistan by the Soviets years later and consequently no arming or training of mujahideen to fight them.

Had we listened to MacArthur, Kim Jong-il would today be hauling pig-turds somewhere in China instead of being the Supreme Commander of the second largest standing army in the world [Wiki].

Now comes before us another great soldier, here described by Dan Friedman:

Let’s assume four-star general Stanley McChrystal is no idiot and after a distinguished 35-year career in the military he knows the rules of the game. Let’s go even further and resolve that a man who spent a year at Harvard, and later ran super secret intelligence operations during the 2nd Iraq war, knows all about liberals, the media, how to keep his mouth shut and when to open it up. Lastly, let’s repeat the obvious. Stanley McChrystal loves his country and believes in his mission.

All of which raises a question that begs to be answered: Why did the general plan to have his deep misgivings about the commander-in-chief aired graphically in public, knowing full well it meant professional suicide?

The answer? Bravery and sacrifice take many forms. McChrystal’s Rolling Stone interview is his message in a bottle to the American people about the nature of our civilian leadership in the Age of Obama. Now that the bottle has come ashore we need to read the note carefully, ignore the MSM's red herrings, and take it at face value.

How will we spend the next few decades? What endless wars will we need to fight against a nuclear jihadist army because we have a defeatist coward running our country?

Photo credit: Barack Obama meets Gen. McChrystal in the Oval Office, 2009 (Getty)