looks like we'll be getting a new commander in Afghanistan [rquoter]Gen. Stanley McChrystal summoned to Washington following magazine profile Ernesto Londono Tuesday, June 22, 2010; 7:37 AM KABUL -- The top U.S. general in Afghanistan was headed to Washington early Tuesday for an impromptu White House meeting, after apologizing for an upcoming magazine article that portrays him and his staff as flippant and dismissive of top Obama administration officials involved in Afghanistan policy. The profile in Rolling Stone magazine, titled the "Runaway General," is certain to increase tension between the White House and Gen. Stanley McChrystal. It also raises fresh questions about the judgment and leadership style of the commander Obama appointed last year in an effort to turn around a worsening conflict. McChrystal and some of his senior advisors are quoted criticizing top administration officials, at times in starkly derisive terms. An anonymous McChrystal aide is quoted calling national security adviser James Jones a "clown," who remains "stuck in 1985." Referring to Richard Holbrooke, Obama's senior envoy to Afghanistan and Pakistan, one McChrystal aide is quoted saying: "The Boss says he's like a wounded animal. Holbrooke keeps hearing rumors that he's going to get fired, so that makes him dangerous." On one occasion, McChrystal appears to react with exasperation when he receives an e-mail from Holbrooke, saying, "Oh, not another e-mail from Holbrooke. I don't even want to read it." U.S. ambassador to Afghanistan Karl Eikenberry, a retired three-star general, isn't spared. Referring to a leaked cable from Eikenberry that expressed concerns about the trustworthiness of Afghan President Hamid Karzai, McChrystal is quoted as having said: "Here's one that covers his flank for the history books. Now if we fail, they can say, 'I told you so.'" A U.S. embassy spokeswoman said she had no immediate comment on the piece. The story also features an exchange in which McChrystal and some of his aides appear to mock Vice President Biden, who opposed McChrystal's troop surge recommendation last year and instead urged instead for a more focused emphasis on counter-terrorism operations. "Are you asking me about Vice President Biden?" McChrystal asks the profile's reporter a at one point, laughing. "Who's that?" "Biden?" an unnamed aide is quoted as saying. "Did you say Bite me?" Lt. Col. Joseph Breasseale, a U.S. military spokesman, said McChrystal called Biden and other senior administration officials Tuesday morning in reference to the article. "After these discussions, he decided to travel to the U.S. for a meeting," the spokesman said in an e-mail. The magazine hits newsstands Friday and could be posted online as early as Tuesday night. The Washington Post received an advance copy from the profile's author, Michael Hastings, a freelance journalist who has written for the Post. "I extend my sincerest apology for this profile," McChrystal said in a statement issued Tuesday morning. "It was a mistake reflecting poor judgment and it should have never happened." The timing of the piece could hardly be worse. Amid a flurry of bad news in Afghanistan and a sharp rise in NATO casualties, U.S. lawmakers and senior officials from NATO allied countries are asking increasingly sharp questions about the U.S.-led war strategy. Dutch and Canadian troops are scheduled to pull out within the next year. And the White House has said it will start drawing down U.S. forces next July. The magazine story shows that McChrystal is also facing criticism from some of his own troops who have grown frustrated with new rules that force commanders be extraordinarily judicious in using lethal force. A few weeks ago, according to the magazine, the general traveled to a small outpost in Kandahar Province, in southern Afghanistan, to meet with a unit of soldiers reeling from the loss of a comrade, 23-year-old Cpl. Michael Ingram. The corporal was killed in a booby-trapped house that some of the unit's commanders had unsuccessfully sought permission to blow up. One soldier at the outpost showed Hastings, who was traveling with the general, a written directive instructing troops to "patrol only in areas that you are reasonably certain that you will not have to defend yourself with lethal force." During a tense meeting with Ingram's platoon, one sergeant tells McChrystal: "Sir, some of the guys here, sir, think we're losing, sir." McChrystal has championed a counterinsurgency strategy that prioritizes protecting the population as a means to marginalize and ultimately defeat the insurgency. Because new rules sharply restrict the circumstances under which air strikes and other lethal operations that have resulted in civilian casualties can be conducted, some soldiers say the strategy has left them more exposed. June is on track to be the deadliest month for NATO troops in Afghanistan since the war began nearly nine years ago. At least 63 NATO troops have been killed so far this month, including 10 who died Monday in a helicopter crash and a series of attacks. In his statement, McChrystal says he has "enormous respect and admiration for President Obama and his national security team." "Throughout my career, I have lived by the principles of personal honor and professional integrity," the general said. "What is reflected in this article falls far short of that standard."[/rquoter]
I don't think he will be relieved of duty. This is an important time in Afghan and if leadership is replaced now......it is not going to help anything! June and July have been historically violent times......I see this as a warning. Obama is going to remind him of the proper chain of command......and tell him to shut up to the media in regards to his 'personal feelings'. All is well deserved....he McChrystal acted unprofessional and needs to be hammered by his boss about it. He is in no position to be speaking negatively about his commander. McChrystal is in the military.....he gave up his freedom of speech when he swore in.
McChystal should be relieved of his command. It will show that Obama has some balls more effectively than him trying to unconvincinlgy act like he is actually angry about something. Next step is to fire Gates one of McChrystal's protectors and who as warmongering bud of Bush-Cheney will will always side with more war and sabotage any effort to withdraw from Iraq or Afghanistan. Just tell the American people that times are tough in America, that we have a budget deficit and that we need to bring home the troops so that the hundreds of billions being spent there to create new jobs, fund unemployment insurrance, clean up the Gulf, move toward solar energy etc.
Whereas I agree with you that McChrystal should be relieved for his comments, I don't think Obama has the testicles to fire his most able commander. Obama would be at too much risk if the Afghanistan campaign goes farther south.
I thought it was kinda funny. I don't think he should be fired either. He definitely shouldn't have been public with this stuff and deserves a verbal scolding...but I mean come on, has anyone been around anyone in the military? b****ing about your superiors is a time-honored tradition.
This is just the last sure sign that the war is going south and the top leaders in both civilian and military circles are starting to snipe at each other to deflect blame. The surge didn't work, nothing will work in Afghanistan. It is time to cut our losses and move on. We are buying time there, nothing more. As big and powerful as America is, sometimes it acts like a big dumb giant.
In another place and time, people around here were called traitors for questioning the President on military matters. My how times change
And now, your daily comedy routine with the chron.com commenters! "The real question should be when will we fire Obama?" -- 206906 "Vice versa, McC should fire Obama. How about a good old fashioned coop?" -- Leroy1 "He should have known that you can't criticize the Great One...." -- Chief_Decoy "Keep McChrystal, Fire obama!" -- DandyDon_dd "We sure have a great "Idiot In Chief"!!!!" -- 2fast4u "Fellow Americans, we need to face a harsh reality: This war was lost the minute Dear Leader declared that we will begin withdrawing in July 2011. The Taliban will just bide their time. All those brave young men and women killed and wounded for nothing. As for Dear Leader - none dare call it treason" -- gerrydoggy
dude, this is everyday on the chronicle. no matter what the story is. literally, any story with a negative is obama's fault. its really sad. and if you really want to hear some obama hate, listen to Michael Berry
g-dub knew better than to send a large army into afghanistan, announce a surge, implement it half-way, and announce a date certain for withdrawal.
Yikes! via TPM -- How McChrystal And Co. Blew The Rolling Stone Profile A general, his aides, and one reporter, stuck on a bus from Paris to Berlin, and drinking case after case of Bud Light Lime ... That's the movie trailer version of how Gen. Stanley McChrystal ended up with a trainwreck of a profile in Rolling Stone, in which he and his aides ended up on the record trashing President Obama and virtually every other important civilian decision-maker on the Afghan war. Rolling Stone's Michael Hastings, still in Afghanistan, told NBC that it all started with the eruption of Iceland's Eyjafjallajokull volcano -- which prolonged Hastings' time with McChrystal and his team. The ash cloud forced the general to take a bus from Paris, where he celebrated an anniversary with his wife, gave a speech. and met with French officials, to Berlin. Hastings told NBC that McChrystal and co. were boozing on the bus "the whole way." He added: "They let loose." The general may now lose his job as a result. We also learned from Hastings' story that McChrystal's favorite beverage is Bud Light Lime, so we can only assume the bus was well stocked. The real question is where in Paris would one procure such a wondrous delicacy (and which foul-mouthed staffer's job it was).
