Despite talk of tension between US military and civilian leaders, relations between Obama's White House and senior officers are downright cordial compared to past administrations, historians say.

From president Abraham Lincoln's frustration with his cautious commander during the Civil War to John F. Kennedy's skepticism of hawks in the joint chiefs of staff during the Cuban missile crisis, "there's nothing new" in the tense back-and-forth over Afghanistan policy, said Mackubin Owens, a professor of national security at the US Naval War College.

During the Korean War, the imperious General Douglas MacArthur defied and disobeyed his commander-in-chief, president Harry Truman, by publicly threatening to attack China just as diplomats were looking to open peace talks.

In the end, Truman had to fire the popular general, who came home to a parade and a media frenzy.

"That's the classic case of the complete breakdown in civil-military relations," said James Helis, a retired Army colonel and head of the national security and strategy department at the US Army War College. "And the only possible outcome was the relief of General MacArthur."

No one has compared the top US and NATO commander in Afghanistan, General Stanley McChrystal, to acting like MacArthur, but he has drawn criticism for expressing his views on strategy in public at a time when the White House is carrying out a sensitive policy discussion in private.

At an event in London this month, McChrystal dismissed as "short-sighted" an alternative strategy under discussion that would call for a smaller ground force.

A former defense official, who asked not to be named, said the commander appeared to have stumbled due to his relative inexperience in the intense heat of the political arena.

His performance is in contrast to the politically savvy General David Petraeus, who persuaded a skeptical Congress in 2007 to give his approach in Iraq time to succeed.

Helis said military commanders have to walk a fine line, as they are obliged in a democracy to speak to the media about what is at stake in a war.

But if they go too far they run the risk of undermining the chain of command and venturing into partisan politics.

"How much do you discuss in public as the public wrestles with these issues, and how much do you hold for your private discussions and conversations with the president?" he said.

The debate over the role of the military in Afghan policy has tended to pit liberals -- who say the generals need to keep their opinions private -- against conservatives -- who argue Obama is failing to act decisively on the military's advice.

But the roles were reversed just a few years ago over Iraq, when the left accused former president George W. Bush of ignoring the warnings of senior officers.

Although analysts worry the all-volunteer military could be steadily drawn into party politics, the climate has improved since the 1800s when generals were knee-deep in partisan vitriol, Owens said.

During the Mexican war, president James Polk, a Democrat, was at logger heads with his top two generals, who were from the rival Whig party that had opposed the war.

One of the generals, Zachary Taylor, openly questioned Polk's handling of the campaign in a letter published in a newspaper, infuriating the president.

The US military has become more professional and less politicized in the years since, but presidents have kept colliding with their commanders, Owens said.

The relationship amounts to a "bargain" between the American public, the military and the government, which has to be regularly adjusted and "renegotiated," he said.

The arrangement works best when senior officers offer their unvarnished opinion without currying favor, but then salute when the president makes up his mind, historians said.

"You are expected to give your best advice to the civilian policy makers," Helis said. "But that doesn't mean the civilian policy makers are obligated to follow your advice."

And after the president has made a decision, "then our obligation is to carry that out to the best of our ability."

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