Disfunctional

Of all the things I am learning today surrounding the General McCrystal news, this is perhaps the most shocking to me.

Eric Bates, the magazine’s editor, said during an interview on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” that McChrystal saw the piece prior to its publication as part of Rolling Stone's standard fact-checking process - and that the general did not object to or dispute any of the reporting.

Asked if McChrystal pushed back on the story, Bates responded: “No, absolutely not.”

“We ran everything by them in the fact checking process as we always do,” the Rolling Stone editor said. “They had a sense of what was coming and it was all on the record and they spent a lot of time with our reporter so I think they knew that they had said it.”

But the end of the article is what I consider a /facepalm moment.

The general issued an apology late Monday soon after the story first appeared online, but Bates suspects McChrystal was surprised by the backlash.

“I don't think we got the sense that it was intentional,” the editor said, pointing out that McChrystal is “known for being very, very frank."

How is it even possible that the architect of our nations 'hearts and minds' COIN strategy for the war in Afghanistan is so tone deaf to media information that he didn't see a backlash coming from his comments in the Rolling Stone article?

If he truly didn't see the backlash from the article coming, then it is no wonder our troops are struggling in Afghanistan.

While it would be the political equivalent of a hail mary pass - and it would also represent the kind of risk taking this administration has never demonstrated in crisis to date - I do hope General Mattis is put in charge of this war. This is a 'call 911' moment for the Afghanistan war, and when the United States calls 911 it is usually the Marines who answer the phone.