Many on the center-right have settled on some version of the Peter Robinson/Jennifer Rubin/Daniel Foster/National Review solution for the mess made by General Stanley McChrystal and his staff. In that scenario, McChrystal offers to resign and President Obama, in the interest of winning the war and broader U.S. national security, refuses to accept it.
It’s not hard to see the appeal of that outcome. McChrystal is a strong leader. He is largely responsible for conceiving of the strategy that we’re executing now, a strategy that is quickly approaching its decisive push. McChrystal has a good relationship with Afghan president Hamid Karzai. He’s one of the only American officials to have the trust of the Afghan leader, who, for all of our concerns about him, is crucial for whatever success we might hope to have in Afghanistan. Finally (and I’m not talking about the current controversy here), McChrystal has repeatedly and successfully pushed his civilian leaders to obtain the military personnel and strategic flexibility to win the war. So there is a strong argument for letting him continue in his role.
