The Story Behind the Infamous McChrystal Quotes

So was Hastings a young gun out looking to make a name for himself? Or just another example of an inexperienced and cheap young journalist thrown into a maelstrom because the news world has cut so deeply on their senior staff to save budgets? Either way, it looks like his characterization of the McChrystal staff conversations was off-target by quite a bit. Sending people to war who don't understand the structure of the military often results in errors of ignorance, and the mis-informing of the reading public. Sean Naylor of the Army Times (a great writer, BTW) has an extended story, and some excerpts follow:

The impolitic comments that torpedoed Gen. Stan McChrystal’s career were “almost all” made by his most junior staff — men who “make tea, keep the principal on time and carry bags” — who had no reason to believe their words would end up in print, according to a staff member who was on the trip to Europe during which the comments were made.

Two other sources familiar with the trip, including Air Force Lt. Col. Tadd Sholtis, McChrystal’s personal spokesman, said the quotes that appeared in a Rolling Stone article that got McChrystal in trouble were made in “off-the-record” settings.

All three sources also accused Rolling Stone of publicly misrepresenting its communications with McChrystal’s headquarters after the story had been reported but before it went to print. E-mails obtained by Army Times appear to support the McChrystal side’s version of events.

To someone who doesn't understand the military, it's easy to assume that all staffers are created equal. They're not. Rookie mistake or intentional misrepresentation?

As an example of Hastings breaking ground rules, the source who was on the Paris trip cited an invitation by Duncan Boothby, a civilian contractor who was special assistant to McChrystal, extended to Hastings to dine with McChrystal, his wife and the rest of the team in an Irish pub in Paris on the night of the McChrystals%u2019 wedding anniversary.

The invitation was contingent on Hastings treating "everything" that night as "off the record," to which Hastings agreed, the source said. However, the article includes a description of the staff getting "completely s----faced" at the pub.

That's just bad journalism. You don't write articles about someone's wedding anniversary dinner unless there was a shooting there. If you're invited to a private function like that, you're not there to report, you're there to help celebrate. Get over yourself.

Neither Bates nor Hastings explained in their interviews how this squared with the fact that one of the most damaging anonymous quotes in the article, in which Jones is referred to as a “clown” by “one aide,” is preceded by the following sentence: “In private, Team McChrystal likes to talk s--- about many of Obama’s top people on the diplomatic side.” The phrase “in private” usually implies an off-the-record conversation, meaning it cannot be repeated in an article.

Again, bad journalism. Whether this kid intentionally ignored the rules, or was ignorant of them, how much of it is due to a lack of mentoring on the part of the "grown-ups" that no longer exist in journalism because budgets have become so constrained that there's no room for adult supervision?

By: Brant