David Petraeus And Stanley McChrystal Lead The Charge On Gun Control
BY Herschel Smith8 years, 5 months ago
During my coverage and commentary on Operation Iraqi Freedom And Operation Enduring Freedom, I never liked David Petrarus or Stanley McChrystal. As for the campaigns (because that invariably comes up), I didn’t agree with OIF1 or in other words the initial invasion of Iraq, I did agree with OIF2 and OIF3 because 80-100 jihadist fighters were coming across the Jordanian and Syrian borders per month to fight U.S. troops who might have crossed American borders instead if we didn’t finish the campaign, I agreed with the initial stages of the campaign in Afghanistan, but when I saw that we had busted the Northern Alliance with were courting the Pashtuns, I opposed the remainder of the campaign, and when I saw the complete debacle we made of both campaigns, I called for total, immediate withdrawal from both theaters. Now that roadblock is out of the way, let’s proceed.
Aside from the campaigns, Petraeus and McChrystal are part of the class of generals who believe in COIN and waging “armed social work.” Their rules of engagement were a function of that, and the rules got many good men killed and maimed. You may drive or walk right by young men who are getting along with no legs or arms, but I don’t. I stop, sometimes shed a tear, and beg forgiveness for not finding the son of a bitch who started all of this and cutting his balls off and feeding them to the dogs.
Petraeus and McChrystal won’t cease and desist showing us what kind of men they are either. Just recently we learned that they don’t take their oath to the constitution seriously, or better yet, they lied when they took their oath. They are leading the charge on gun control for the progressives.
Retired Gen. David Petraeus is teaming up with former astronaut Mark Kelly to form a gun-control advocacy group that “respects the Second Amendment rights of law-abiding Americans.”
Kelly has made frequent appearances on the 2016 campaign trail with presumptive Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton, as well as his wife, former Arizona Rep. Gabby Giffords, who sustained a serious brain injury after being shot in Tucson in 2011.
Petraeus and Kelly are joined by other military veterans, including retired Gen. Stanley McChrystal and retired Air Force Gen. Michael Hayden, in launching the “Veterans Coalition for Common Sense.” The group’s stated purpose is to urge lawmakers to do more to prevent mass gun tragedies.
Shamefully, there’s even a Marine in the mix.
“I believe that our Constitution affords responsible Americans the right to own guns, but we need to keep dangerous people from having easy access to guns. Felons, domestic abusers, even known terrorists can buy a gun here without something as simple as a criminal background check. This has to stop,” retired Marine Brig. Gen. Stephen Cheney said in a statement. “Our laws don’t support responsible gun ownership, and far too often guns fall into the hands of dangerous, irresponsible people.”
So let’s rehearse what I said about Stanley McChrystal when he first came out as a gun controller progressive.
But the irony is that McChrystal, who issued the most restrictive rules of engagement ever promulgated on American troops, waxes know-it-all on what it takes to keep our people safe. He can micromanage the campaign, release a bunch of inept, bureaucratic, PowerPoint jockeys into highly protected mega-bases to command the troops under fire in the field, turn so-called general purpose troops into constabulary patrolmen, and become a laughingstock when his juvenile staff turned party-animal with Rolling Stone. But he didn’t manage the campaign in such a manner as to keep our children in uniform safe in Afghanistan. If he didn’t do that, why should I care what he has to say about anything else regarding my safety?
This is what happens when media stars think they know something about policy. So here is a suggestion for Mr. McChrystal. You go read the lamentations at this article from the families and widows of SFC Kenneth Westbrook, Gunnery Sgt Aaron M Kenefick, Corpsman James Ray “Doc” Layton, and others in the Ganjgal engagement. You know the one I’m talking about, even if others have forgotten. You and I will never forget. The one where they left our men to perish without fire support because of your rules of engagement. You sleep with this reality, if you can, you ponder on those men and their lives morning and night, and you lament with the widows and families. And then you tell me why I should give a shit what you have to say about anything, much less what it takes to keep my children or loved ones safe?
I don’t retreat one iota from what I said there. McChrystal, with his ROE, is a murderer. I don’t give a shit what he says about anything. As for Petraeus, he is an adulterer and that during deployment when men under his charge were suffering and dying.
I’m glad those are the best two men this ungodly bunch could come up with. Those two men should be embarrassments to the gun controller crowd. It gives me amusement and pleasure to have them as enemies. Sometimes good things do happen.
On June 13, 2016 at 4:16 am, John Wilson said:
So let me get this straight…two guys who know absolutely nothing about guns are supposed to be given creedence and listened to, simply because one was a former executive-level soldier and the other, an astronaut. Neither of whom know the first thing about guns, gun laws, or the like. This is evidenced by the fact that neither can voice a reasonable argument for the curbing of our constitutional rights and want to ban/seize all modern firearms…yet they are “for the Second Amendment.” Yeah; right. Tell you what…when you want to write a piece of legislation regarding maritime pollution or trade negotiations with China and you involve the NRA, I might listen to these ignorant, moronic men. It’s about the same damned thing. And by the way, I thought that Betraeus was an enemy of the United States and our government, according to the Clinton and Obama machine just 4-6 years ago.
On June 13, 2016 at 5:37 am, pkill said:
Betray-us got religion; he now knows where the power is. These guys are not just incompetent generals, they are the junta of dictators the constitution warned us about. No standing army would have prevented this “hero on a white horse” cabal from forming.
The military is autocratic by necessity: they send men to their deaths to accomplish something, hopefully, something worth human life. But the sad truth is, like Benedict Arnold, not all former officers are good people, with respect for either human life or freedom.
This group needs to move to Russia or China to feel at home in the kind of insect collective society they are used to.
On June 13, 2016 at 6:45 am, MattBracken said:
General Bilderberg Petreaus is now raking in millions of dollars working for the “global hedge fund” KKR, which is a means to launder Saudi influence money. He takes his cut (in the millions) and then he writes the “Don’t criticize Islam, or they’ll get really mad and hurt us” column for the WaPo. Disgusting traitors and domestic enemies, both of them.
On June 13, 2016 at 7:10 am, Hedge said:
Matt; you keep your head on a swivel my man…. you’re doing good work and that is surely getting attention. God Bless you and stay safe.
On June 13, 2016 at 6:55 am, Dan Bray said:
Well said. These self promoting political generals are a disgrace to the uniform. They should be unwelcome in any assembly of decent people.
On June 13, 2016 at 7:00 am, GA Patriot said:
Never fear. I’m certain restrictive ROE will not apply to American Patriots.
On June 13, 2016 at 7:15 am, Chainsaw said:
Before I retired Stan was doing his thing in IQ. There was a theory going around a few yrs prior about a shift toward reducing “middle management” in the services to streamline direct control between the top (Stan) and increasingly lethal operators. ROE was, IMO, merely the flip side of that effort to orchestrate everything, from a distance.
On June 13, 2016 at 8:44 am, Big Boss said:
You nailed it Herschel. I don’t think my opinion of Mark Kelly could get any lower, while these other useful idiots can go pound sand. I’m a veteran, I support and defend the Constitution of the United States, period. No compromises ever.
On June 13, 2016 at 10:20 am, Blake said:
Every single one of them is a traitor.
These men are not stupid. They have made a deal with the devil and will reap the whirlwind. I hope they enjoy their earthly pleasures now because they are headed for an eternity of misery.
On June 13, 2016 at 5:19 pm, Dov Sar said:
Interesting that those who swore an oath to protect and defend the constitution against all enemies foreign and domestic now become those domestic enemies…..
On June 13, 2016 at 11:31 pm, Carl In Alaska said:
For a bunch of general officers who lacked the intestinal fortitude (balls) to stand up to a treasonous commander-in-chief they are now a washed up bunch of traitorous bastard s and undeserving of any respect. When they combine with Spaceman Kelly and his marionette wife to attack my second amendment rights it is too much.
On June 14, 2016 at 2:28 pm, Big Boss said:
Amen!
On July 24, 2016 at 1:55 pm, Michael Jones said:
Everybody forgets that McChrystal also tried to cover up the Pat Tillman tragedy.