Pentagon removes privileges of reporter in McChrystal affair

A Pentagon spokesman said the freelance reporter would no longer be allowed to accompany US troops in Afghanistan.

The Pentagon said on Wednesday that it yanked the embedding privileges of the journalist at the center of a scandal that led to the sacking of the head of US forces in Afghanistan, General Stanley McChrystal.

Pentagon spokesman Colonel David Lapan said that freelance journalist Michael Hastings, author of the Rolling Stone magazine article on McChrystal, would no longer be allowed to accompany US troops in Afghanistan in a process known as embedding.

"There is no right to embed," Lapan said. "It's based on a trust requisite."

McChrystal was swiftly relieved of his command in Kabul in June after comments attributed to him in the Rolling Stone article showed that he and his aides had disdain for administration officials. He retired from the military in July.

The uproar over the Rolling Stone bombshell has caused Pentagon leaders to take a close look at how the military handles the media, as the department had increasingly empowered commands in Kabul and Baghdad to speak directly to reporters and release information about operations.

The Army also indicated Wednesday it had begun an inquiry. It said no details would be given on the scope of the review or who was interviewed, because the investigation was under way.

"The Army Vice Chief of Staff recently directed the Army Inspector General to investigate matters relating to the publication of the Rolling Stone article. Matters under review by the Inspector General are not addressed publicly while the case is ongoing. The Army will provide further information at the appropriate time," an Army statement said.