Trump lashes out at retired Gen. McChrystal who called him immoral

Isabel Dobrin
Politico
Tue, 01 Jan 2019 11:58 UTC

© Steven Senne/AP

General Stanley McCrystal

President Donald Trump lashed out Tuesday at a retired army general who had been critical of him and his decision to withdraw U.S. troops from Syria.

In a New Year's Day post to Twitter, Trump said retired Gen. Stanley McChrystal is "known for [a] big, dumb mouth" and that he "got fired like a dog by Obama." The president identified McChrystal as a "general," apparently deriding the former military official by placing his title in quotes, and called him a "Hillary lover."

Trump's critisicim of McChrystal came after the retired general told Martha Raddatz on ABC's This Week that the president is immoral and does not tell the truth.

"If we want to be governed by someone we wouldn't do a business deal with because their - their background is so shady, if we're willing to do that, then that's in conflict with who I think we are. And so I think it's necessary at those times to take a stand," the retired general said.

McChrystal also said the president's decision to withdraw U.S. troops from Syria would lead to instability in the region. "If you pull American influence out, you're likely to have greater instability, and of course it'll be much more difficult for the United States to try to push events in any direction," he told ABC News.

McChrystal rose to public prominence as a military officer during the administration of President Barack Obama, who tasked the four-star Army general with leading U.S. forces in Afghanistan. McChrystal resigned in 2010 amid the publication of a Rolling Stone magazine article in which he and aides made comments critical of Obama administration officials, including Vice President Joe Biden.

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"There is an argument that says we just pull up our stuff, go home, let the region run itself. That has not done well for the last 50 or 60 years," continued the four-star general, who spoke as part of a long sit-down interview with ABC's This Week.

Commenting on the latter decision, Trump tweeted that defeating Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS) was "my only reason for being there during the Trump Presidency" and this task has effectively been accomplished after all strongholds controlled by the jihadist militia have been captured.

"I don't believe ISIS is defeated," disagreed McChrystal. "I think ISIS is as much an idea as it is a number of ISIS fighters. There's a lot of intelligence that says there are actually more ISIS fighters around the world now than there were a couple of years ago."

While Trump's move was lauded internationally as an acknowledgement of the limits of US interventionism, and was praised by former US ambassador to Syria Robert S. Ford, the blowback from the establishment has been fierce, and has cut across party lines.

McChrystal urged his successor to "look in the mirror and ask them if they can get comfortable enough with President Trump's approach to governance, how he conducts himself with his values and with his worldview to be truly loyal to him as a commander in chief going forward."