Gen. Stanley McChrystal coming to Washington to explain anti-administration comments

[alienlovechild 75]

KABUL -- The top U.S. general in Afghanistan was summoned to Washington for a White House meeting after apologizing Tuesday for flippant and dismissive remarks about top Obama administration officials involved in Afghanistan policy.

The remarks in an article in this week's in Rolling Stone magazine are certain to increase tension between the White House and Gen. Stanley A. McChrystal.

The profile of McChrystal, , titled the "Runaway General," 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.'"

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.

A senior administration official in Washington said McChrystal had been summoned to the White House to explain his remarks. The general will attend a regular meeting on Afghan-Pakistan strategy scheduled for Wednesday. Normally, he would have participated in the session via videoconference.

"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."

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/06/22/AR2010062200813.html

[sly_wolf 199]

More nonesense. The problem is everyone seems to think that they know whats best for the country and therefore they all go in there own directions.

I think he needs to quite. If I was caught saying this about our company CEO I think I would be gone.

[Obama 2012 1,714]

More nonesense. The problem is everyone seems to think that they know whats best for the country and therefore they all go in there own directions.

I think he needs to quite. If I was caught saying this about our company CEO I think I would be gone.

Yeah, but let's be honest. The LAST PERSON we need running our military is someone like Obama. Someone who has zero service experience and understands nothing about day to day operations....

If I were in McChrystal's shoes and those with him and had some amateur punk dictating what I'm to do, I'd be saying those things as well.

[sly_wolf 199]

That's your opinion but if government was run like a business (would never be possible due an endless hord of self serving laywers) this person would be gone.

I also firmly believe that there was never any leadership alternative that would have handled the current state of affairs any better.

There is much negativity globally and many in the media and politics are using this as leverage to perpetuate there self serving agendas which is nothing new. I personally don't trust or beleive most politicians and always read the news with a grain of salt since we are told what they want us to hear.

[Obama 2012 1,714]

That's your opinion but if government was run like a business (would never be possible due an endless hord of self serving laywers) this person would be gone.

I also firmly believe that there was never any leadership alternative that would have handled the current state of affairs any better.

There is much negativity globally and many in the media and politics are using this as leverage to perpetuate there self serving agendas which is nothing new. I personally don't trust or beleive most politicians and always read the news with a grain of salt since we are told what they want us to hear.

My point is, who are you going to listen to? Some crackpot team of attorneys/bankers in the White House, or a distinguished General who sees what's going on day in and day out?

[sly_wolf 199]

My point is, who are you going to listen to? Some crackpot team of attorneys/bankers in the White House, or a distinguished General who sees what's going on day in and day out?

I can't say since I am not privy to all of the facts except for this news article. Based on the info in the news article I can only say if this was me I would be fired. Its too easy to point fingers otherwise.

[ScratchIt 12]

My point is, who are you going to listen to? Some crackpot team of attorneys/bankers in the White House, or a distinguished General who sees what's going on day in and day out?

So the best President would be a retired 5 star who was the CEO of a major financial institution while moonlighting on the side as the chief engineer at Shell Oil who is married to a foreign born immigrant. Good luck.

[sly_wolf 199]

I can't say since I am not privy to all of the facts except for this news article. Based on the info in the news article I can only say if this was me I would be fired. Its too easy to point fingers otherwise.

To add to this. He should really have aired his dirty laundry with his boss and not the media. If I disagree with my boss I let him know personally ... I wouldn't tell the whole world with the risk of looking like a jerk.

[Gary and Alla 3,694]

Guess he has to come home to defend his freedoms. While he was away fighting a war, the politicians here decided he has no freedom of speech.

[Gary and Alla 3,694]

My point is, who are you going to listen to? Some crackpot team of attorneys/bankers in the White House, or a distinguished General who sees what's going on day in and day out?

That isn't important. We will listen to whomever we want. We will make our decision as to whom we will listen. We have FREEDOM OF SPEECH. You think the General looks like a fool? OK. You think he is brave and honest? OK. The FACT is he has a freemdom to speak his mind, be honest, look like a fool or anything else.

If Obama were a GOOD president of a free country, he would say..."The General has a right to his opinion".

[evli1966 88]

So the best President would be a retired 5 star who was the CEO of a major financial institution while moonlighting on the side as the chief engineer at Shell Oil who is married to a foreign born immigrant. Good luck.

No not necessarily.

But the best Secretary of Defense might be.

The best president staffs himself with experienced staff in each field and acts on their experience trustung in the advice they give. If he doesn't trust them or wants to cut their authority off at the knees then he nothing more than a dictator.

Also if the country was run like a business we most likely would not have the economics problems we have now.

I also agree the general should not be speaking out the C&C but speak his mind to his superiors and resign if they do the above. Let the mistakes fall on the adminstration; after resigning he can state what he wants from there.

Also someone that has zero business sense or military sense probably shouldn't be in the white house if they can not let the generals command.

[sly_wolf 199]

Guess he has to come home to defend his freedoms. While he was away fighting a war, the politicians here decided he has no freedom of speech.

Not sure where you got that? You can do whatever you like but there is always a consequence ... in a free world or not.

[The_Dude 1,142]

Guess he has to come home to defend his freedoms. While he was away fighting a war, the politicians here decided he has no freedom of speech.

You don't have the right, in the millitary to publicly criticize your commanding officer. Ignorance is no excuse Gary.

[Kevin and 10]

http://www.ucmj.us/uniform-code-of-military-justice/sub-chapter-10-punitive-articles.shtml#888.%20ART.%2088.%20CONTEMPT%20TOWARD%20OFFICIALS

ARTICLE 88. CONTEMPT TOWARD OFFICIALS

Any commissioned officer who uses contemptuous words against the President, the Vice President, Congress, the Secretary of Defense, the Secretary of a military department, the Secretary of Transportation, or the Governor or legislature of any State, Territory, Commonwealth, or possession in which he is on duty or present shall be punished as a court-martial may direct.

They could court-martial him.

[The_Dude 1,142]

Yeah, but let's be honest. The LAST PERSON we need running our military is someone like Obama. Someone who has zero service experience and understands nothing about day to day operations....

If I were in McChrystal's shoes and those with him and had some amateur punk dictating what I'm to do, I'd be saying those things as well.

I think the actual last person to listen to would be an armchair general, pseudo-intellectual who thinks he is a constitutional scholar.