12/30/18
Retired Army Gen. Stanley McChrystal, the former commander of U.S. forces in Afghanistan, sharply criticized President Donald Trump on Sunday, calling him immoral and untruthful and taking aim at his foreign policy decisions. In an interview on ABC News’s “This Week,” McChrystal told host Martha Raddatz of Trump, “I don’t think he tells the truth.” The general also responded affirmatively when asked whether he believes Trump is “immoral.” McChrystal said that contrary to Trump’s claim, Islamic State, also known as ISIS, has not yet been defeated. “I don’t believe ISIS is defeated. I think ISIS is as much an idea as it is a number of ISIS fighters. There’s a lot of intelligence that says there are actually more ISIS fighters around the world now than there were a couple of years ago,” he said.
In Sunday’s interview, McChrystal said he would decline if asked to work in the Trump administration, citing what he described as the president’s lack of honesty. “I’d say, ‘No.’ It’s important for me to work for people who I think are basically honest, who tell the truth as best they know it,” the retired general said. McChrystal added that although he couldn’t tell others not to support Trump, Americans should ask themselves whether the president embodies the country’s values. “If we want to be governed by someone we wouldn’t do a business deal with because their background is so shady — if we’re willing to do that, then that’s in conflict with who I think we are,” he said. “And so I think it’s necessary at those times to take a stand.”
