It is clear to me that Obama’s decision to fire Stanley McCrystal is the right thing on many levels, both on a political and a policy leve, and not just because this action is essential to the maintenance of good order and discipline in the military.

It is clear that anything else would have undercut both Obama’s credibility and the idea of civilian control of the military.

That being said, it was a lot more, it:

• Got rid of a corrupt and political officer with a long history of being a Bush admin butt boy (Tillman, torture at the Camp Nama prison camp, his earlier insubordination, etc.)
• He put someone in charge whom the Republicans are TREMENDOUSLY invested in (Petraeus), and so inoculated himself somewhat from any potential downsides.
• He has given some ownership of the Afghanistan war to another corrupt and political officer with a long history of being a Bush admin butt boy, and if Davey (Petraeus) is kept busy, he won’t be leaking stories to undermine the timeline.
• It is clear that this is a temporary appointment, so Obama can replace Petraeus at any time because it’s clear that being head of CENTCOM and Afghanistan is too much
• At that time, he can appoint someone who won’t lobby to undermine the time-line.
• Petraeus will be too busy to engage in political machinations over the next few months.

All in all, I give this an 8 out of 10. It works on just about every level, except, of course, for the fact that we remain in the “Graveyard of Empires.”