Obama: Petraeus to Replace McChrystal in Afghanistan
VOA News 23 June 2010
U.S. President Barack Obama has accepted the resignation of General Stanley McChrystal as the top U.S. commander in Afghanistan.
President Obama announced McChrystal's resignation Wednesday at the White House following comments the general and his staff made mocking senior members of the Obama administration in a magazine article.
The president named General David Petraeus, the head of U.S. Central Command, as McChrystal's replacement, saying the move will allow the U.S. to maintain momentum in the war.
Mr. Obama said as difficult as it is to lose McChrystal's leadership, it is the right decision for national security. He said McChrystal's comments in the article did not meet the standards of conduct for a commanding general.
Earlier Wednesday, McChrystal met with President Obama in the Oval Office after being summoned back to Washington to discuss the comments.
McChrystal left the White House after the closed half-hour meeting, and was not seen returning to attend President Obama's monthly meeting with his national security team as expected.
Before leaving for Washington, McChrystal said the profile published in Rolling Stone was a mistake that never should have happened.
In the article, titled "The Runaway General," McChrystal's aides are quoted as calling a top Obama official a "clown" and another a "wounded animal." The article also says the general was "disappointed" by his first meeting with the president.
On Tuesday, Secretary of Defense Robert Gates said he believed McChrystal made a significant mistake. Gates also said McChrystal apologized to him and to others named in the article as well.
A spokesman for Admiral Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said the admiral expressed "deep disappointment" about the comments. The spokesman said Mullen spoke to McChrystal Monday.
Aides quoted in the article also heaped scorn on Vice President Biden, who favored a far more limited approach in Afghanistan than the one McChrystal advocated. McChrystal himself was quoted as accusing U.S. Ambassador to Afghanistan Karl Eikenberry of betraying him in a policy dispute.
A spokesman for Afghan President Hamid Karzai Wednesday called General McChrystal a trusted partner and one of the most important figures in the U.S. relationship with Afghanistan.
Some information for this report was provided by AP.
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