This week, the resignation of Gen. McChrystal as the Commander, Allied Forces in Afghanistan rocked the nation and the world. Though some believe that his departure was too high a price to pay for being politically incorrect, we must remember that the military operates by law under a very different set of rules than the civilian world. Whether or not the current occupant of the White House is deserving of ridicule or disrespect, the Office of the Presidency is not. The rules governing our military were established to ensure that the civilian branch of government remains in complete control of the military. There are many examples of why our Founding Fathers established this hierarchy, both historically and in our present day world as well.

That said, the question must be asked, “Why did a 4-star General with a distinguished career knowingly allow a left-wing paper to observe and publish an exchange that cost him his career?” It is becoming increasingly clear that the war in Afghanistan is not going according to our plan or our schedule. The Obama administration is chock-full of academics and public sector “clingons” who have absolutely no experience in or with the military. And fewer than 1 in 5 members of the US House and Senate ever served in our Armed Forces. In the military, words such as integrity, honor, and duty have real meaning. And breakdowns in those values have very real, and deadly, consequences – both for the individual members and for our nation.

Was General McChrystal signaling that he was tired of fighting a counter-insurgency war where our troops cannot shoot back, use artillery or call in airstrikes if there’s any chance of a civilian casualty? Think about these rules of engagement as we fight a war against an enemy that wears no uniform, hides in schools, hospitals, mosques and marketplaces, knows no allegiance to any nation, and is well-funded and very technologically capable.

Was he tired of sending our troops home in caskets because this Commander-in-Chief, having never held any positions of executive responsibility in his life, has absolutely no idea of how to make strategic decisions with anything other than concern for his plummeting political fortunes?

Accepting General McChrystal’s resignation was the correct thing to do. But we have to ask ourselves why a courageous, talented lifelong soldier ended his career in the midst of a very tough war, after being hand-picked by this President to wage it.