Abu Muqawama: Post
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McChrystal as Cantona
I challenged the folks who follow my Twitter feed to come up with a proper sports analogy for Stan McChrystal. We were trying to think of a brilliant athlete who had a meltdown. @alexlobov won, by a country mile, with Eric Cantona. Cantona, the brilliant Frenchman who played for Manchester United, lost it in 1995, ran into the stands and -- I am not joking -- karate-kicked a fan in the face and was banned for nine months and lost the captaincy of the French national team. (Yeah, they have a history of craziness.) He then followed that up with the greatest press conference in the history of press conferences. Ron Artest had nothing on Le Roi.
Cantona went on to score some wonder goals and even beat the Devil, so perhaps there is hope for McChrystal after his humiliating exit from Afghanistan. Anyway, happy World Cup, everybody.
UPDATE: Uh... some of the folks in the comments section need to remember they are reading a blog with a Lego jihadi as its mascot. So while I do write serious commentary from time to time, and often on this blog, a sense of humor is recommended if not required for the readership.
Not bad. But if you are
Not bad. But if you are looking for a great career ending in stupidity and causing national embarrassment, Zidane's headbutting Materazzi at the 2006 World Cup final should be a close contender.
Speaking of Cantona, does anyone know when this movie will be released in the US?
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1242545/
ran into the stands and -- I
ran into the stands and -- I am not joking -- karate-kicked a fan in the face and was banned for nine months
Wasn't it basically the center of the chest, or am I thinking of a different incident?
wow....i loved
wow....i loved that....sardines ftw!
;)
but i don't know why McC's career is over.
He essentially told the team caption to either extend his timeline or send in another player.
is that career death in the military?
Off topic: and @ the Ink
Off topic: and @ the Ink Spots crew:
As the newly installed disqus doesn't let me comment on your blog
I have to use this one to let you know the new system sucks ... :-(
I thought it was more like
I thought it was more like Megan Fox getting booted from the Transformers franchise for trash-talking the director, personally.
What the troops on the ground want, according to story after story, is the ability to call in artillery and airstrikes when under assault without having to constantly worry about civilian bystander deaths. This doesn't fit with the political goals of anyone other than the Taliban, however, who win more recruits every time someone's family is accidentally wiped out.
The embassy wants some kind of development program - but the kind of aid that's been delivered to the Afghan people hasn't done much to counteract this. Here's where McChrystal also dropped the ball - what with his plan to give diesel generators to people with no diesel?
US General Stanley McChrystal's staff favours spending $US200 million ($240m) very quickly to flood Kandahar City with generators. A stabilisation officer at the Kandahar airfield, the huge and swelling base in the desert a 40-minute drive from the city, calls the lack of electricity "the principal symbol of the government's inability to provide public services".
The US embassy insists the electrification program must be such that Afghans can sustain after foreign support is withdrawn.
The embassy was right about that, but their solution is probably to give more money to their private contractor pals for white elephant projects in Kabul. See the Louis Berger / Black & Veatch contracts from USAID for a nice example of how to rip off the government:
After leaving the Army, Walker had gone to Afghanistan seeking wealth in the private sector. He took a job as security co-ordinator in Kabul with engineering companies Louis Berger Group and Black & Veatch.
The companies in joint venture won a $US1.4billion US government contract. Walker used his position on a committee to try to solicit $US900,000 in kickbacks from private security vendors seeking subcontracts.
The Queenslander had been facing more than three years in jail but the judge cut the sentence to nine months because Walker had agreed to fly from Australia to the US last November, surrender to US authorities and plead guilty to a charge of conspiracy to solicit a kickback.
http://www.smh.com.au/world/former-soldier-jailed-in-us-over-kabul-kickb...
Tweedledum or Tweedledee? Whose it gonna be?
Just when I thought you
Just when I thought you couldn't get ever more flippant, you go ahead and surprise me. Is this analogy really appropriate, at this time? Or was it that your sophomoric, giggly ego couldn't help itself?
What you don't realize, Mr. Exum, is that McCrystal's eclipse is also your own. Notwithstanding your ignoble and desperate kiss up to the Obama administration during this incident, you will always be counted as a McCrystal guy, since it was he who propelled you to prominence. He took you seriously. I guess that was another of his errors in judgement.
It is one thing to be wrong in analysis. It is quite another to lack character. You are the equivalent of a cavalryman breaking ranks and galloping for the hills, hoping for amnesty. And mocking a man while he is down, well, that's just being a jerk on top of everything else.
@Positroll: noted. We're
@Positroll: noted. We're working on it. And probably getting rid of it.
Whow... I've heard the
Whow...
I've heard the phrases, replaceable, canon fodder,.. didn't realize it was that cutthroat.
Makes me wonder why any sane person would think of a career in the military. It might be great fun to some of you but this is not very constructive.
"McCrystal's eclipse is also
"McCrystal's eclipse is also your own."
doesn't have to be.
McC and Abu Muqawama could both champion anti-drone policy and save COIN.
Whenever I think of hell I
Whenever I think of hell I think of soccer.
but loves Lee Elia. None of
but loves Lee Elia.
None of you can top this.
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/chi-lee-elia-rant-mp3,0,5241709.mp3file
Tell us how you REALLY feel. ;)
Fuck you, Exum!
Fuck you, Exum!
McC will be back. Can't keep
McC will be back.
Can't keep a good man down.
This is goin' out to Gen. McC from a fangrrl.
Andrew Exum converted meh.
;)
I nominate Wally Backman
I nominate Wally Backman NSFW
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QOZxT9MHAJU
I repeat below what I posted
I repeat below what I posted on your last thread. I think Marja-centric is spot on and +1,000 to every word he said.
"That's It?
That's all you have to say about the forced retirement of a remarkable officer? Your mentor? The man who brought you into his inner circle to provide input and counsel?
I'm really disappointed to see how quickly you can just "turn the page" on someone who had so much faith in you and your potential. This is all the reflection you have on this? Seriously. Hell, I've never even met the man, but I can pen a send off post with more emotion and feeling.
As I've said elsewhere, I was agnostic about keeping GEN McChrystal in Afghanistan. But his forced retirement from the Army is a devastating blow to our officer corps. Take a good, hard, look at our current roster of Four Stars. This loss is incalculable for the Army when its bench of inspirational senior leaders is really, really thin.
I'm so sorry that you've become beholden to an adminsitartion and its appointees. From my vantage, the firing of GEN McChrystal was anything but "classy". A few boilerplate lines thanking him for his service. Big. F--king. Deal.
To paraphrase Glenn Greenwald, I guess that this post is what "partisan tribalism" looks like. It ain't pretty."
Not an athelete, but a
Not an athelete, but a coach--
Dennis Green: after an improbable series of events turns victory into defeat against the Bears in 2006, he has a public post-game meltdown that results in the eventual unraveling of his coaching career.
But if you insist on an athelete--
Gilbert Arenas--it seemed funny at the time to pretend to shoot your teammates in a pre-game warmup. Just like it seemed OK to unwind in front of a writer. Both Gil and Stan were clueless to the political realities that surrounded them.
The McChystal case may
The McChystal case may indicate that Obama lacks respect from his top officers. That would pose the US at danger.
Please get rid of the political dwarf from the White House in 2012.
Ooh aah Cantonaah. I dont
Ooh aah Cantonaah. I dont think McChrystals words came close to a metaphorical kick in the face, even though the kick missed and the fan was fine, making a few quid from the tabloid newspapers. More like Tottenham V Birmingham, 2007, Robby Keane sent off: "The sending-off was harsh. In this type of incident the referee would normally show a yellow card, it certainly wasn't red".
THis is a very interesting
THis is a very interesting read for a Irishman. As for the football side of life, Cantona was good, but nowhere near the style of Maradonna. And as for blowing up and losing it, well Maradonna puts Cantona in the shade. Of course there is a plus point - Maradonna is now a World Cup coach.
So, what does this mean for Gen Mac? Well, having the joy of serving in HM Forces and daily seeing my guys applying courageous restraint, and, on the whole agreeing with it for it was what the Brits did in the Oman in the 70's, maybe Gen MAc is seeking a powerplay situation.
By offering Obama to sack him he was stepping up to the plate and stating either sack me and show you have some balls, or get of my back and show the World you are week. Tough Call. Maybe Gen MAc can now follow our own late CDS General Dannatt into politics on the back of his military career.
More importantly though, it doesn't send the best indications to Afghanistan when th military and political channels do not talk. A Comprehensive Approach, hmm, more like an incomprehensible approach.
So happy you embedded that
So happy you embedded that press conference. Probably my favorite one of all time with Jim Mora's "Playoffs!" and Bob Knight's "Game Face" one's being in my top three, as well.
Personally, I think Cantona
Personally, I think Cantona still out cools McChrystal. I mean McChrystal would now need to retire to a farm somewhere out of sight for a couple of years and then out of the blue announce on a Nike advert that he'd raised as army of Gary Faulkners and sorted out Afghanistan. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pWxIc1iuSswNo, no, no. General
No, no, no. General McChrystal would be offended to be compared to someone who let himself go the way Cantona did. Gen. McChrystal is clearly a Paolo Di Canio: cast out of the limelight ignominiously then returning to age like wine and cause more trouble for his boss (it remains to be seen who the public policy equivalent of Glenn Roeder is). He will fade away, as the saying goes, all the way down to Serie C2.
Why hasn't anyone mentioned
Why hasn't anyone mentioned the time Ty Cobb went into the stands during a game and beat up a fan who had been viciouisly heckling him the whole game. Cobb had an advantage in the meelee, of course, since the man was cripled.
Your update to the post made
Your update to the post made me LOL. I have often wondered where you found a Lego jihadi. Is there some Lego collection more current than pirates, cowboys and star wars?
Cantona's good, but did
Cantona's good, but did anyone suggest Will Carling?
Carling-- wildly successful captain of England (rugby (union)) through the early 90's...goes on a national TV program and calls the managers of the RFU "57 old farts", leading him to be almost instantaneously sacked as captain.
Fortunately for him, unlike Gen. McChrystal, he was reinstated after a massive public outcry and formal apology.
Cantona's good, but did
Cantona's good, but did anyone suggest Will Carling?
Carling-- wildly successful captain of England (rugby (union)) through the early 90's...goes on a national TV program and calls the managers of the RFU "57 old farts", leading him to be almost instantaneously sacked as captain.
Fortunately for him, unlike Gen. McChrystal, he was reinstated after a massive public outcry and formal apology.
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