Andy Martin: Hillary Clinton is the big winner in General McChrystal shakeup

Foreign policy and Afghanistan expert Andy Martin says that President Obama’s decision to remove General McChrystal is understandable, if unwise. But the net effect is to saddle Obama with full responsibility for an unwinnable war that is going to drive the Democratic Party into Hillary Clinton’s hands in 2012. Martin’s “McChrystal ball” predicts that Obama’s political decline, and Clinton’s corresponding rise, can be measured from today.

 

Internet powerhouse Andy Martin with his surprising political analysis of the McChrystal shakeup

 

Andy Martin’s “McChrystal ball” says Hillary Clinton wins big as the general loses his command

 

ContrarianCommentary.com

 

“The Internet Powerhouse”

Andy Martin

Executive Editor

 

“Factually Correct, Not Politically Correct”

 

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

 

Andy Martin says “Today is the start of the Hillary Clinton for President campaign”

 

Martin says Obama has now assumed complete ownership of a failed military strategy, and that the real beneficiary of his decision to remove Stanley McChrystal will be Secretary of State Hillary Clinton

 

(NEW YORK)(June 23, 2010)  I first went to Afghanistan exactly thirty years ago, in 1980, to link up with the anti-Soviet Mujahideen. One of my closest associates, an Afghan native, was later killed by the Northern Alliance. Afghanistan has been on my stove, sometimes on a front burner, sometimes on a back one, for over three decades.

 

Earlier today I posted a column that suggested President Obama should not fire General McChrystal. Getting rid of McChrystal was the easy way out. But the easy out today will doom Obama’s presidency in 2011-2012.

 

While the cable TV bobbleheads, most of whom have never been to Asia, cackle on about Obama and “civilian control of the military,” which was never even remotely a concern with General McChrystal, I am going to provide you with the type of insight that formed the core of my bestselling book, “Obama: the Man Behind the Mask.”

 

The big winner today: Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.

 

I will write later in greater detail about why our strategy in Afghanistan is a failed approach. But anyone reading today’s papers and watching today’s “analysis” knows “Obama’s War” is doomed. As I said earlier today, while I supported General McChrystal as a loyal officer, I believe Vice President Joe Biden was right on the policy.

 

Can General David Petraeus now save Obama’s flawed policy? That is doubtful. Petraeus may also take a hit as a result of today’s shift in command. Petraeus came out of Iraq as a hero, and he has been supervising our Central Command since then. He is a competent officer. But even a military genius can’t rescue a failed strategy. My guess is that Petraeus’ star will also be tarnished. I would not be surprised to see Petraeus retire in January. He may hang on, but he may decide to hit the silk and get out before July, 2011.

 

So why is Clinton a winner? No one has mentioned her in any of the news analysis today. Why am I out there alone?

 

Most “analysts” on cable TV are not analysts at all. They are parrots who are told to respond to the immediate issue. They have never engaged in long-term strategic thinking and political analysis.

 

Clinton was the only member of Obama’s team that was not criticized in the Rolling Stone article. She has been an outstanding team member because she follows orders and does what she is told. And she obviously knows better than to have a reporter join her entourage.

 

The July, 2011 withdrawal date which was agreed on as Obama’s “policy” last year was a compromise between the “McChrystal Plan” and the “Biden Plan.” Biden lost the strategic debate, and he was rewarded with the consolation prize of a withdrawal date that is illusory.

 

McChrystal may have been the one who got fired today, but the more interesting battle took place last weekend when Secretary of Defense Robert Gates said the July, 2011 date was flexible. The result: there will be a rigid "withdrawal" in July, 2011, but the army will be retreating, not leaving after a victorious campaign. Gates contradicted Biden. Both of them are civilians:

 

http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0610/38779.html

 

Where does this leave Obama? The left is restive. Obama is drifting. Congress will be in the hands of the Republicans. Normally dropping a president after one term would be disastrous for a political party. Hillary Clinton is the only person with the stature to replace Obama as a presidential candidate without causing a Democratic Party meltdown. Clinton may not be able to win the White House, but she will be the only Democrat who can revive a party tainted by Obama’s incompetence and hubris.

 

When this columns ends up on Hillary Clinton’s desk, as inevitably it will, her reaction? “Dang,” she’s going to say. “Andy again. He almost perfectly timed my resurgence during the 2008 campaign. How does he do it?” In 2008, Clinton started to fight back against the Kenyan pipsqueak, but it was too late. This time around, the McChrystal decision makes it clear that it is too late to save Barack Obama.

 

Hillary Clinton will be the Democratic Party’s nominee in 2012.

 

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ABOUT ANDY: Andy Martin is the legendary New York and Chicago-based muckraker, author, Internet columnist, radio talk show host, broadcaster and media critic. He has over forty years of broadcasting background in radio and television and is the dean of Illinois media and communications. He is currently promoting his best-selling book, “Obama: The Man Behind The Mask” and his Internet movie "Obama: The Hawai'i years." Martin has been a leading corruption fighter in Illinois for over forty years. He is currently sponsoring www.AmericaisReadyforReform.com

Andy is the Executive Editor and publisher of the “Internet Powerhouse,” www.ContrarianCommentary.com. He comments on regional, national and world events with more than four decades of investigative experience. He holds a Juris Doctor degree from the University of Illinois College of Law and is a former adjunct professor of law at the City University of New York (LaGuardia CC, Bronx CC).
 
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