Retired Gen. Stanley McChrystal discusses the historical legacy and complexity of Confederate General Robert E. Lee with Shane Parrish.
Opinion
McChrystal: An Individual's Relationship With Risk Is Innate and Rarely Changes
“I think everyone has a relationship with risk, and it doesn't really change. You may get a little better with it, a little more experienced, But you have a certain Ability to deal with that uncertainty. And I think that comes from birth.”
What-if
McChrystal: With Al Qaeda's Background, I Might Have Reached Identical Conclusions
“Rather than hate the Al Qaeda operatives because they were bloodthirsty and they would do horrible things, you had to step back and say, if I'd had their life journey and their perspective, I might very well Have the exact same conclusions and activities as th…”
Assertion Not checkable as stated
McChrystal: The US Government Possessed All Information Necessary to Stop 9/11
“And I think of the nine 11 attacks where we had all the information necessary to stop the World Trade Towers being hit. Inside the U S government, but we couldn't connect the dots”
Insight
McChrystal: Executives Must Defer to Frontline Operators Despite Having Remote Visibility
“Don't fall into the self-deception that you have a better understanding of what's happening than they do. Use that, that position and that visibility to gain some perspective, but then listen, talk, do everything else you can and support the person on the grou…”
Insight
McChrystal: The Military Systematically Reports What It Wants to Be True
“The truth is, if you sit back in D.C. And you listen to what the military tells you know, the military, God bless us, will say what we want to be true. It's not that we're lying, but we've been given a mission and we desperately want it to be going well, and s…”
Prediction Not checkable as stated
McChrystal: The Next War May Be Won Before People Realize It Began
“And in fact, the next war may well be won or lost before people actually realize it's on. Maybe so fast that that's occurred.”