The top U.S. commander in Afghanistan fired the No. 2 U.S. trainer of Afghan security forces Friday for “inappropriate public comments” about Afghan President Hamid Karzai. Marine General John Allen relieved Army Major General Peter Fuller after Fuller told the Politico website that Karzai was “isolated from reality”:
The two-star general flashed irritation when he brought up Karzai’s recent remarks that Afghanistan would side with Pakistan in a war against the U.S., blasting the president’s comments as “erratic,” and adding, “Why don’t you just poke me in the eye with a needle! You’ve got to be kidding me … I’m sorry, we just gave you $11.6 billion and now you’re telling me, ‘I don’t really care’?”
Note General Allen’s choice of words in cashiering Fuller: “inappropriate public comments.” Fuller may have erred in speaking publicly, but senior U.S. officers have been uttering words far more bitter for years. It is not a good sign when what everyone is saying privately cannot be stated publicly. In that case, only the troops – the ones dying – and the taxpayers – the people employing both Allen and Fuller – are kept, willfully, in the dark. That’s truly “isolated from reality.”
