In Afghanistan, as in Iraq, a New Breed of Commander Stepped In

The New York Times has a good article about how Gen. Stanley A. McChrystal modeled himself as one of a new kind of American military leader: intellectual, open with the press and politically savvy. It notes:

Like General Petraeus, who has a Ph.D. from Princeton, General McChrystal, a fellow at both Harvard University and the Council on Foreign Relations, he brought a formidable intellect to the elusive complexities of Afghan tribal and ethnic politics. And he labored to explain the rationale — through the press to a public increasingly weary of war and skeptical of the effort in Afghanistan — behind his strategy based on counterinsurgency.

But in making derisive remarks about members of the Obama administration to Michael Hastings of Rolling Stone, General McChrystal went well past acceptable candor and into the realm of political hazard.

Exactly why he and his officers chose to let fly in such uncontrolled fashion in front of a reporter is hard to know. It is possible that they had become so accustomed to having reporters around that they forgot one of them was there.

And that, perhaps, is a measure of the difference between General McChrystal and his mentor. It is impossible to imagine General Petraeus uttering the same things or letting down his guard to do so. For if there is one rule by the which the new breed of generals live, it is that candor is good, but not too much