General out of line in public Afghanistan lobbying

WASHINGTON — How to proceed in Afghanistan will be among the most difficult and fateful decisions that President Barack 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.

National security adviser James L. Jones, a retired Marine Corps general, was right to lay down the law. Jones said Sunday on CNN that "ideally, it's better for military advice to come up through the chain of command." I believe that's Pentagon-speak for: "Put a sock in it, Stan."

McChrystal's statements came at a pivotal moment when the White House is engaged in a fundamental review of Afghanistan policy. Some officials, including Vice President Joe Biden, have argued for a minimalist approach in terms of goals and resources. Obama has called Afghanistan a "war of necessity," but now must face the implications of an open-ended escalation.

McChrystal, in his public advocacy for more troops, seemed to be trying to limit Obama's options. But what we want to achieve in Afghanistan is a political question, and we don't pay our generals to do politics. That's the job of the president and the Congress — and whether our elected leaders decide to pull out tomorrow or stay for 100 years, the generals' job is to make it happen.