2 big warnings from Gen. McChrystal: War in Europe is possible & we’re going to have to give up rights for our security

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BY THOMAS E. RICKS

After eight years at Foreign Policy, here are the ten most popular Best Defense posts.

U.S. Army Gen. Stanley A. McChrystal, commander of NATO’s International Security Assistance Force and U.S. Forces-Afghanistan arrives at Combat Outpost Sharp in the Garmsir District. 

Next month, this column will be moving to another platform. But before we go, in celebration of eight happy and productive years at Foreign Policy, here are the most popular items ever to run on the Best Defense.

In the new issue of Prism magazine, General Stanley McChrystal, U.S. Army (Ret.) offers two warnings. Both are kind of hair-raising.

First, he offers the thought that, “A European war is not unthinkable.” He goes on to explain that, “People who want to believe that a war in Europe is not possible might be in for a surprise. We have to acknowledge great power politics; we can’t pretend that they are gone.” And if that whiff of August 1914 isn’t enough, he goes on to speculate that technological progress is so empowering individuals that Americans will have to give up some of our civil rights. “We are beginning an era in which our ability to leverage technology to track people and control populations is going to create a lot of tension; I think we are going to see a lot more population control measures. We are going to have to give up a lot more of our precious civil rights than most of us imagine because we want security.”