Obama fires McChrystal, appoints Petraeus as new commander

US President Barack Obama relieved Top US commander in Afghanistan General Stanley McChrystal of his duties on Wednesday over disparaging remarks in a magazine article. Following are excerpts from the Rolling Stone magazine:

–“Even though he had voted for (President Barack) Obama, McChrystal and his new commander-in-chief failed from the outset to connect. The general first encountered Obama a week after he took office, when the president met with a dozen senior military officials in a room at the Pentagon known as the Tank. According to sources familiar with the meeting, McChrystal thought Obama looked “uncomfortable and intimidated” by the roomful of military brass. Their first one-on-one meeting took place in the Oval Office four months later, after McChrystal got the Afghanistan job, and it didn’t go much better. ‘It was a 10-minute photo-op,’ says an adviser to McChrystal. ‘Obama clearly didn’t know anything about him, who he was. Here’s the guy who’s going to run his f-ing war, but he didn’t seem very engaged. The Boss was pretty disappointed.’”

–“Last fall, during a question-and-answer session following a speech he gave in London, McChrystal dismissed the counterterrorism strategy being advocated by Vice President Joe Biden as ‘shortsighted,’ saying it would lead to a state of ‘Chaos-istan,’ The remarks earned him a smackdown from the president himself, who summoned the general to a terse private meeting aboard Air Force One. The message to McChrystal seemed clear: Shut the f- up, and keep a lower profile. Now, flipping through printout cards of his speech in Paris, McChrystal wonders aloud what Biden question he might get today, and how he should respond. ‘I never know what’s going to pop out until I’m up there, that’s the problem,’ he says.

Then, unable to help themselves, he and his staff imagine the general dismissing the vice president with a good one-liner. ‘Are you asking about Vice President Biden?’ McChrystal says with a laugh. ‘Who’s that?’ ‘Biden?’ suggests a top adviser. ‘Did you say “Bite Me?”’


–“In private, Team McChrystal likes to talk s- about many of Obama’s top people on the diplomatic side. One aide calls Jim Jones, a retired four-star general and veteran of the Cold War, a ‘clown’ who remains ‘stuck in 1985.’ Politicians like (John) McCain and (John) Kerry, says another aide, ‘turn up, have a meeting with (Afghan president Hamid) Karzai, criticize him at the airport press conference, then get back for the Sunday talk shows. Frankly, it’s not very helpful.’ Only (Secretary of State) Hillary Clinton receives good reviews from McChrystal’s inner circle. ‘Hillary had Stan’s back during the strategic review,’ says an adviser. ‘She said, “If Stan wants it, give him what he needs.’”

–“McChrystal reserves special skepticism for (Richard) Holbrooke, the official in charge of reintegrating the Taliban. ‘The Boss says he’s like a wounded animal,’ says a member of the general’s team. ‘Holbrooke keeps hearing rumors that he’s going to get fired, so that makes him dangerous. He’s a brilliant guy, but he just comes in, pulls on a lever, whatever he can grasp onto. But this is COIN (counterinsurgency), and you can’t just have someone yanking on s-.’”

–“By far the most crucial - and strained - relationship is between McChrystal and (Karl) Eikenberry, the US ambassador. According to those close to the two men, Eikenberry - a retired three-star general who served in Afghanistan in 2002 and 2005 - can’t stand that his former subordinate is now calling the shots. He’s also furious that McChrystal, backed by Nato’s allies, refused to put Eikenberry in the pivotal role of viceroy in Afghanistan, which would have made him the diplomatic equivalent of the general.

“... The relationship was further strained in January, when a classified cable that Eikenberry wrote was leaked to The New York Times. The cable was as scathing as it was prescient. The ambassador offered a brutal critique of McChrystal’s strategy, dismissed President Hamid Karzai as ‘not an adequate strategic partner,’ and cast doubt on whether the counterinsurgency plan would be ‘sufficient’ to deal with al Qaeda. ... McChrystal and his team were blindsided by the cable. ‘I like Karl, I’ve known him for years, but they’d never said anything like that to us before,’ says McChrystal, who adds that he felt ‘betrayed’ by the leak. ‘Here’s one that covers his flank for the history books. Now if we fail, they can say, ‘I told you so.’”

Published in The Express Tribune, June 24th, 2010.