Quiet, Please
By Oliver North
October 9, 2009
Page 2 of 2
Instead of making Gen. McChrystal available for congressional testimony -- as the Bush administration did with Gen. David Petraeus -- the Obama administration has decided to muzzle its battlefield commander. It is a serious mistake.
Mr. Obama, enmeshed in an increasingly unpopular war and an uphill fight for his far-reaching domestic policy agenda, is now at risk of going the way of Lyndon Johnson. "Landslide Lyndon," intent on pursuing his "Great Society" goals, refused wise counsel to "go for a victory or not at all" in Vietnam. Instead, Mr. Johnson brought forces into the fight piecemeal, in what he called "incremental escalation." It was a disaster -- one that need not be and should not be repeated in the shadows of the Hindu Kush.
Gen. McChrystal has defined victory: a stable, pro-Western government in Kabul that respects the human rights of the people of Afghanistan. He has asked for what he needs to win: more U.S. troops, improved reconstruction aid, clearer lines of command and control, and more help building national infrastructure -- roads, schools, clinics and hospitals.
The American people, whose sons and daughters have volunteered to serve in harm's way, deserve to hear this directly from Gen. McChrystal. If the Obama administration wants to win this war, it will dispatch Gen. McChrystal to Congress with orders other than "quiet, please."
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Oliver North is the host of "War Stories" on Fox News Channel, the founder and honorary chairman of Freedom Alliance, and the author of "American Heroes."
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