Retired four-star Army Gen. Stanley McChrystal’s criticism in Rolling Stone of the Obama administration’s Afghanistan strategy may have been the impetus for his resignation as the leader of U.S. forces in Afghanistan in 2010, but these days Democratic candidates are welcoming his words.
Gen. McChrystal has endorsed Massachusetts challenger Seth Moulton’s campaign to unseat Democratic Rep. John Tierney in the Sept. 9 primary, and retired Air Force Major Gen. Irv Halter’s Democratic bid to oust Colorado Republican Rep. Doug Lamborn. Mr. Moulton is a Marine Corps veteran, and Gen. Halter is a close friend of Gen. McChrystal.
“I trust people that prove to me their character, and I trust Irv like few others. If we can follow leaders like Irv Halter, we’ll do well,” Gen. McChrystal said in a statement, The Hill reported Thursday.
Mr. Moulton told The Hill that he first met the retired general while attending graduate school at Harvard University.
“We got to know each other because we share a belief in national service,” he told The Hill.
Gen. McChrystal has attended two fundraisers for Mr. Moulton, the paper reported.
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Former Rep. Patrick Murphy, Pennsylvania Democrat, the first Iraq war veteran elected to Congress, told The Hill that the retired general is “not running against anybody,” but instead “running and supporting people he believes in. […] Most of us in the military would run through a brick wall for each other.”
Gen. McChrystal has said he does not belong to a political party.
• Douglas Ernst can be reached at dernst@washingtontimes.com.
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