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Obama Removes McChrystal From Top Afghan Command Post

June 23, 2010

By Heather Maher

WASHINGTON -- President Barack Obama has removed General Stanley McChrystal from his position as the top U.S. and NATO commander in Afghanistan and named the head of U.S. Central Command, General David Petraeus, to replace him.

"Today I accepted General Stanley McChrystal's resignation as commander of the International Security Assistance Force in Afghanistan,” Obama said in a televised speech. “I did so with considerable regret but also with certainty that it is the right thing for our mission in Afghanistan, for our military, and for our country."

The decision to replace McChrystal was made following the publication of a magazine article in which he made contemptuous comments about several top administration officials, including Vice President Joe Biden.

In the "Rolling Stone" magazine article, which is already online and will hit newsstands June 25, McChrystal and his top aides are quoted calling national security adviser Jim Jones “a clown,” characterizing Obama as “unprepared” for a strategy meeting, mocking Biden, and criticizing U.S. Ambassador to Afghanistan Karl Eikenberry.

Obama said his “difficult decision" was not made out of "any sense of personal insult" or policy disagreement with McChrystal.

Indeed, as the president spoke, McChrystal released his own statement saying that he had resigned out of "a desire to see the mission succeed."

"I strongly support the president's strategy in Afghanistan," McChrystal said.

Rather, Obama faulted McChrystal for damaging the trust within the nation's military and security leadership team.

"The conduct represented in the recently published article does not meet the standard that should be set by a commanding general,” Obama said. “It undermines the civilian control of the military that is at the core of our democratic system and it erodes the trust that's necessary for our team to work together to achieve our objectives in Afghanistan."

Strategy Unchanged

Current U.S. plans proscribe a "clear and hold" strategy aimed at paving the way for troop withdrawals to start next summer.

Obama said that strategy would not change under Petraeus, who, as the head of Central Command -- which oversees the conduct of the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq -- was McChrystal's superior officer.

After the article came to the attention of the White House on June 21, Secretary of Defense Robert Gates summoned McChrystal to Washington from Afghanistan to appear in person to answer for his comments.

In a statement, Gates said McChrystal had made a "significant mistake."

McChrystal met with Obama at the Oval Office this morning for a meeting that lasted less than a half hour. He left before the start of Obama's monthly security meeting, which he normally attends via videoconference from the field.

The AP reported that before meeting with Obama, McChrystal had prepared a letter of resignation.

The last time Washington witnessed such a public display of insubordination between a war commander and the president was 1951. That was when President Harry Truman stripped General Douglas MacArthur of his command after a private letter he wrote containing criticism of the White House's Korean War strategy became public.

Source: http://www.rferl.org/content/McChrystal_Resigns_Obama_Appoints_Petraeus_As_Afghanistan_Commander/2080691.html

Copyright (c) 2010. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036.