McChrystal
Time to update the resume?

I’ve not been much of a John King fan lately, but I must admit that he practiced some actual responsible journalism Sunday morning on his show "State of the Union" on CNN. His guest was James Jones, the National Security Adviser. CQPolitics has posted a transcript of the interview.

Very early in the interview, King asks Jones if General Stanley McChrystal might resign if things don’t go his way on Afghanistan troop levels:

KING: If he has campaigned, General McChrystal has quite publicly, a big speech in London the other day for his plan — if the president decides no, I’m not sending more troops to Afghanistan, you have been in that position yourself sir as a commanding general. Could General McChrystal stay on if the president said no?

JONES: Again, that’s another hypothetical that I probably –

KING: Would you?

JONES: I shouldn’t judge what General McChrystal is going to do or not do. I am absolutely convinced that General McChrystal is in it for the long haul. He has said so publicly and privately. So this is not a — this is not — I don’t think this is an issue.

But King does not let up on the question of McChrystal making his request for more troops into a public case he argued in the speech in London. Here is King’s next question and the response:

KING: The president sad [sic] down face-to-face with General McChrystal the other day on Air Force One in Europe. Did he express any disappointment that the commander has been so public? Essentially many in Washington think almost putting the commander-in-chief in a box by publicly saying, I need these troops?

JONES: Well, I wasn’t there and what happened between — the conversation between the — and I’ve not spoken to the president since he talked to him, so I can’t comment on the conversation.

KING: Is that an appropriate — would you act that way as a commander? Is it at all unseemly that the men in uniform, and I know sir you wore the uniform for many years, that they’re out openly campaigning for this one as an open question for the president?

JONES: Ideally, it’s better for military advice to come up through the chain of command and I think that General McChrystal and the others in the chain of command will present the president with not just one option, which does, in fact, tend to have a, you know, enforcing function, but a range of options that the president can consider. And as I said, and forgive me for repeating myself, troops are a portion of the answer, but not the total answer. It’s this coordination that has —

It looks like King was fishing for Jones to suggest that McChrystal should be fired for taking his request directly to the public. The McChrystal situation here seems to be taking on the feel of the "full confidence" quotes that come out just before someone is shown the door.

King then moves on to attack Jones and others in the Obama administration who have pushed back against McChrystal’s public campaign for more troops for Afghanistan. King relies on his old buddy, John McCain. Jones swats the attack away with grace and ease:

KING: But you know you have some critics. Having seen General McChrystal made his case publicly, having spoken to General Petraeus, having been to the region, some Republicans including Senator John McCain say that you, sir, and others in the White House are playing politics with this decision. I want you to listen to Senator McCain.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. JOHN MCCAIN (R), ARIZONA: It’s well known, it’s broadcast all over television, that there are individuals, including the vice president of the United States, now, unfortunately, the national security adviser, the chief political adviser to the president, Mr. Rahm Emanuel who don’t want to alienate the left base of the Democrat Party.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KING: Is that a factor in the White House, rising Democratic opposition to sending more troops to Afghanistan? Do you, sir, say, Mr. President, no more troops, because of politics, as Senator McCain says?

JONES: Senator McCain knows me very well. I worked for Senator McCain when he was a captain. I’ve known him for many, many years and he knows that I don’t play politics with national — I don’t play politics, and I certainly don’t play it with national security and neither does anyone else I know. The lives of our young men and women are on the line. The strategy does not belong to any political party and I can assure you that the president of the United States is not playing to any political base. And I take exception to that remark.

More meetings of the administration’s senior working group are planned for the upcoming week, and a decision on Afghanistan strategy is due soon. Is McChrystal’s fate tied to whether his recommendation is accepted? Is his job already in danger due to insubordination?

Stay tuned.

Update: See Siun’s post for more on this ongoing question.