The Rolling Stone piece by Michael Hastings has some excellent color about McChrystal’s interactions with the troops and the rocket-fuel of those controversial quotes. Otherwise, it’s pretty lackluster and very anti-war. This is hilarious over-writing about McChrystal: “His slate-blue eyes have the unsettling ability to drill down when they lock on you. If you’ve f—ed up or disappointed him, they can destroy your soul without the need for him to raise his voice.” Destroy your soul? Hastings refers to “the doomed offensive in Marja,” which makes it sound as though the Taliban repulsed us, when we actually took the city (although the Taliban is still carrying out attacks). He writes of the “controversial military strategy” of COIN, and “the cultish zeal” of the “COINdinistas.” Well, the strategy is controversial in the sense that not everyone agrees with it, but it is the consensus strategy of the U.S. government. Max Boot is good on this point:

McChrystal’s plan has had the solid support of General David Petraeus, head of Central Command; Admiral James Stavridis, the Supreme Allied Commander, Europe; Admiral Michael Mullen, chair of the Joint Chiefs of Staff; Defense Secretary Robert Gates; Secretary of State Hillary Clinton; and, after an agonizing three-month review in the fall that considered every conceivable alternative, President Obama, himself.

Boot also notes how the experts quoted by Hastings are all critical of the war. All of which underlines the poor judgment in giving this guy such access.