azmastablasta
New member
I love insubordination,especially when properly placed.Here,he merely told the truth.Been guilty many times in my life.Better to suffer the consequences than jepordize your integrity I say. Screwem,McChrystal may well be a candidate soon.
Furious President Obama summons Gen. Stanley McChrystal to D.C.
By GORDON LUBOLD | 6/22/10 7:25 AM EDT
POLITICO 44
The top commander in Afghanistan, Gen. Stanley McChrystal, has been summoned to the White House to explain biting and unflattering remarks he made to a freelance writer about President Barack Obama and others in the Obama administration.
The face to face comes as pundits are already calling for McChrystal to resign for insubordination.
McChrystal has been instructed to fly from Kabul to Washington today to attend Obama’s regular monthly security team meeting tomorrow at the White House.
An administration official says McChrystal was asked to attend in person rather than by secure video teleconference, “where he will have to explain to the Pentagon and the commander in chief his quotes about his colleagues in the piece.”
Both Defense Secretary Robert Gates and Adm. Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, have spoken with McChrystal. Capt. John Kirby, a spokesman for Mullen, said “the chairman spoke to Gen. McChrystal last night and expressed his deep disappointment with the article and with the comments expressed therein.”
McChrystal and his top aides appeared to let their guard down during a series of interviews and visits with Michael Hastings, a freelance writer for the magazine Rolling Stone.
The article, titled “The Runaway General,” appears in the magazine later this week. It contains a number of jabs by McChrystal and his staff aimed not only at the president but also at Vice President Joe Biden, special envoy Richard Holbrooke, Karl Eikenberry, the ambassador to Afghanistan, and others.
McChrystal described his first meeting with Obama as disappointing and said that Obama was unprepared for the meeting.
National Security Adviser Jim Jones is described by a McChrystal aide as a “clown” stuck in 1985.
Others aides joked about Biden’s last name as sounding like “Bite me” since Biden opposed the surge.
McChrystal issued an immediate apology for the profile, advance copies of which were sent to news organizations last night.
“It was a mistake reflecting poor judgment and should never have happened,” McChrystal said. “Throughout my career, I have lived by the principles of personal honor and professional integrity. What is reflected in this article falls far short of that standard. I have enormous respect and admiration for President Obama and his national security team, and for the civilian leaders and troops fighting this war, and I remain committed to ensuring its successful outcome.”
NATO issued a statement overnight indicating continued support for McChrystal despite the “unfortunate article.”
It will be hard for the White House to get past this since the remarks appear to amount to some level of insubordination.
“This general has to be fired; he has to be gone by the end of the day,” said Joe Scarborough, on “Morning Joe” on MSNBC.
“Gates and Petraeus have to come out and fire McChrystal.” They should have already done it — Petreaus and Gates should have already fired McChrystal.”
But analysts who are close to the situation and know McChrystal well believe that while the remarks were wrong, it would be a bigger mistake to let McChrystal go at such a critical time in the war.
“He made a big mistake, but he is a fantastic general, and not only that but a modest man who is respectful of others,” says Michael O’Hanlon, a senior fellow at Brookings.
“That makes these comments even more uncharacteristic and unfortunate," he said. "We need him, and Ambassador Eikenberry, for this effort, and I am confident knowing both men well that they can put these issues behind them for the greater good.”
McChrystal, an expert on counterterrorism and counterinsurgency, has long been thought to be uniquely qualified to lead in Afghanistan. But he is not known for being media savvy.
Hastings, who has covered the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan for two years, according to the magazine, is not well-known within the Defense Department.
And as a freelance reporter, Hastings would be considered a bigger risk to be given unfettered access, compared with a beat reporter, who would not risk burning bridges by publishing many of McChrystal’s remarks.
Read more: http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0610/38837_Page2.html#ixzz0rbCwfcs2
Read more: http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0610/38837.html#ixzz0rbAxatai
Furious President Obama summons Gen. Stanley McChrystal to D.C.
By GORDON LUBOLD | 6/22/10 7:25 AM EDT
POLITICO 44
The top commander in Afghanistan, Gen. Stanley McChrystal, has been summoned to the White House to explain biting and unflattering remarks he made to a freelance writer about President Barack Obama and others in the Obama administration.
The face to face comes as pundits are already calling for McChrystal to resign for insubordination.
McChrystal has been instructed to fly from Kabul to Washington today to attend Obama’s regular monthly security team meeting tomorrow at the White House.
An administration official says McChrystal was asked to attend in person rather than by secure video teleconference, “where he will have to explain to the Pentagon and the commander in chief his quotes about his colleagues in the piece.”
Both Defense Secretary Robert Gates and Adm. Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, have spoken with McChrystal. Capt. John Kirby, a spokesman for Mullen, said “the chairman spoke to Gen. McChrystal last night and expressed his deep disappointment with the article and with the comments expressed therein.”
McChrystal and his top aides appeared to let their guard down during a series of interviews and visits with Michael Hastings, a freelance writer for the magazine Rolling Stone.
The article, titled “The Runaway General,” appears in the magazine later this week. It contains a number of jabs by McChrystal and his staff aimed not only at the president but also at Vice President Joe Biden, special envoy Richard Holbrooke, Karl Eikenberry, the ambassador to Afghanistan, and others.
McChrystal described his first meeting with Obama as disappointing and said that Obama was unprepared for the meeting.
National Security Adviser Jim Jones is described by a McChrystal aide as a “clown” stuck in 1985.
Others aides joked about Biden’s last name as sounding like “Bite me” since Biden opposed the surge.
McChrystal issued an immediate apology for the profile, advance copies of which were sent to news organizations last night.
“It was a mistake reflecting poor judgment and should never have happened,” McChrystal said. “Throughout my career, I have lived by the principles of personal honor and professional integrity. What is reflected in this article falls far short of that standard. I have enormous respect and admiration for President Obama and his national security team, and for the civilian leaders and troops fighting this war, and I remain committed to ensuring its successful outcome.”
NATO issued a statement overnight indicating continued support for McChrystal despite the “unfortunate article.”
It will be hard for the White House to get past this since the remarks appear to amount to some level of insubordination.
“This general has to be fired; he has to be gone by the end of the day,” said Joe Scarborough, on “Morning Joe” on MSNBC.
“Gates and Petraeus have to come out and fire McChrystal.” They should have already done it — Petreaus and Gates should have already fired McChrystal.”
But analysts who are close to the situation and know McChrystal well believe that while the remarks were wrong, it would be a bigger mistake to let McChrystal go at such a critical time in the war.
“He made a big mistake, but he is a fantastic general, and not only that but a modest man who is respectful of others,” says Michael O’Hanlon, a senior fellow at Brookings.
“That makes these comments even more uncharacteristic and unfortunate," he said. "We need him, and Ambassador Eikenberry, for this effort, and I am confident knowing both men well that they can put these issues behind them for the greater good.”
McChrystal, an expert on counterterrorism and counterinsurgency, has long been thought to be uniquely qualified to lead in Afghanistan. But he is not known for being media savvy.
Hastings, who has covered the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan for two years, according to the magazine, is not well-known within the Defense Department.
And as a freelance reporter, Hastings would be considered a bigger risk to be given unfettered access, compared with a beat reporter, who would not risk burning bridges by publishing many of McChrystal’s remarks.
Read more: http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0610/38837_Page2.html#ixzz0rbCwfcs2
Read more: http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0610/38837.html#ixzz0rbAxatai
