Obama relieves McChrystal of command
WASHINGTON – President Barack Obama ousted Gen. Stanley McChrystal as the top U.S. commander in Afghanistan on Wednesday, saying that his scathing published remarks about administration officials undermine civilian control of the military and erode the needed trust on the president’s war team.
Obama named McChrystal’s direct boss — Gen. David Petraeus — to take over the troubled 9-year-old war in Afghanistan. He asked the Senate to confirm Petraeus for the new post “as swiftly as possible.”
The president stated he did not make the decision to accept McChrystal’s resignation over any disagreement in policy or “out of any sense of personal insult.” Flanked by Vice President Joe Biden, Defense Secretary Robert Gates and Adm. Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, in the Rose Garden, he said: “I believe it is the right decision for our national security.”
Obama hit several gracious notes about McChrystal and his service, saying that he made the decision to sack him “with considerable regret.” And yet, stated he stated that the job in Afghanistan can’t be done now under McChrystal’s leadership, asserting that the critical remarks from the general and his inner circle in the Rolling Stone magazine article displayed conduct that doesn’t live up to the necessary standards for a command-level officer.
Obama seemed to suggest that McChrystal’s military career is over, including in his praise of the general that the nation should be grateful “for his remarkable career in uniform.”
McChrystal left the White House following his Oval Office call to accounts, and returned to his military quarters at Washington’s Fort McNair.
A senior military official stated there is no immediate decision about whether he would retire from the Army, which has been his entire career. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to talk publicly.
With the controversy have the effect of refueling debate over his Afghanistan policy, Obama took pains to accentuate that the strategy was not shifting with McChrystal’s outster.
‘Not a change in policy”"This is a change in personnel but it is not a change in policy,” he said.
Indeed, as Obama was speaking, McChrystal released a statement saying that he resigned out of “a desire to see the mission succeed.”
“I strongly support the president’s strategy in Afghanistan,” McChrystal said.
With Washington abuzz, there had been a complete lockdown on information about the morning’s developments until just before Obama spoke.
But by pairing the decision on McChrystal’s departure with the name of his replacement, Obama is seeking to move on as quickly as possible from the firestorm.
Petraeus, who attended a formal Afghanistan war meeting at the White House Wednesday, has been overseeing the wars in both Afghanistan and Iraq as head of U.S. Central Command.
Petraeus is the nation’s best-known military man, having risen to prominence as the commander who turned around the Iraq war in 2007. The Afghanistan job is actually a step down from his current post.
Extraordinary challenge to White HouseIn a Rolling Stone magazine article, McChrystal did not criticize Obama himself but called the period last fall when the president was deciding whether to approve more troops “painful” and stated Obama appeared ready to hand him an “unsellable” position.
McChrystal also stated he was “betrayed” by Ambassador Karl Eikenberry, the man the White House chose to be his diplomatic partner in Afghanistan. He accused Eikenberry of raising doubts about Karzai only to give himself cover in case the U.S. effort failed. “Now, if we fail, they can state ‘I told you so,’” McChrystal told the magazine. And he was quoted mocking Vice President Joe Biden.
If not insubordination, the remarks — as well as even sharper commentary about Obama and his White House from several in McChrystal’s inner circle — were at least an indirect and extraordinary challenge and one that consumed Washington on Tuesday. The capital hasn’t seen a similar public contretemps between a president and a top wartime commander since Harry Truman stripped Gen. Douglas MacArthur of his command more than a half-century ago after disagreements over Korean War strategy.
Notably, neither McChrystal nor his team questioned the accuracy of the story or the quotes in it. McChrystal issued an apology.
Remarkably revealing reactionMilitary leaders rarely challenge their commanders in chief publicly. When they do, consequences tend to be more severe than a scolding.
Indeed, the presidential spokesman’s prepared reaction to the article was remarkably revealing, even for the normally coded language of Washington. Press secretary Robert Gibbs repeatedly declined to state McChrystal’s job was safe, and questioned whether McChrystal is “capable and mature enough” to lead the war.
“Our efforts in Afghanistan are larger than one person,” Gibbs told reporters, a formulation typically used when one person is about to leave.
Gates, for his part, stated in a statement Tuesday that McChrystal had made “a significant mistake.”
Obama raised the issue of McChrystal’s future in a phone call with British Prime Minister David Cameron on Tuesday night, Cameron’s office stated Wednesday without disclosing what was said. Britain has about 10,000 troops in Afghanistan, the largest international force after the United States.
History of making wavesMcChrystal was viewed as a visionary with the guts and smarts to turn around the beleaguered, 8-year-old Afghanistan war when he was chosen to take over last year.
But despite his military achievements, he has a history of making waves. This is not his first brush with Obama’s anger. Last fall, the president scolded McChrystal for talking too bluntly about his desire for more troops.
Wisconsin Democratic Rep. David Obey, chairman of the House Appropriations Committee, called for McChrystal to resign. Sen. John McCain, the top Republican on the Senate Armed Services Committee, was among three prominent Republican senators to criticize the general and state a decision about his future should rest with Obama.
Several names circulated among Pentagon and Capitol Hill aides as potential successors, including Gen. James Mattis, Joint Forces Command chief; Lt. Gen. John Allen, the No. 2 at U.S. Central Command; Lt. Gen. David Rodriguez, McChrystal’s No. 2 in Afghanistan; Gen. Martin Dempsey, commander of the Army Training and Doctrine Command; and Adm. James Stavridis, the top NATO commander in Europe.
Military officials, talking on condition of anonymity ahead of the White House meeting, stated the administration had not reached out to possible successors but might do so Wednesday.
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Submited at Wednesday, June 23rd, 2010 at 7:00 pm on Politics by Alina
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