General McChrystal Issues Apology Over Rolling Stone Article has been asked to meet with Obama

UPDATE: Breaking: General Stanley McChrystal tenders his resignation

By Toby Harnden World Last updated: June 22nd, 2010


A senior Capitol Hill source tells me that General Stanley McChrystal had tendered his resignation to President Barack Obama and that the White House is actively discussing a replacement who could be quickly confirmed by the Senate.

The source said that among the names being touted as possible successors are General James Mattis, the outgoing head of the US Joint Forces Command and due to retire after being passed over as US Marine Corps commander, and Lieutenant General William Caldwell, commander of Nato’s Training Mission in Afghanistan.

Of course, offering to resign is not the same as actually resigning and it remains to be seen whether Mr Obama will accept the resignation. Donald Rumsfeld offered to resign as Pentagon chief on more than one occasion but President George W. Bush requested that he continue in post before eventually firing him in November 2006.

Source: London Telegraph

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UPDATE: Article, the Runaway General is now posted at Rolling Stone and is as bad we heard. We are stunned that a General who is heading the Afghanistan campaign would talk like this about civilian leadership except for Hillary Clinton who McChyrstal likes.

Read the article for yourself and draw your own conclusions.

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Why would General McChrystal grant Rolling Stone magazine access to him and his aides in the war zone of Afghanistan is the first question we would ask. Why did they comment openly in front of a reporter would be the follow-up.

No matter how much I agree with what they said, Generals who are heading active campaigns like Afghanistan don't grant interviews to Rolling Stone. It is almost like he was ordered to grant Rolling Stone access, and this was his way of getting back at Obama and the 'clowns' in his Administration.

This reminds us of the Air Force General who was fired after Clinton took office for talking about Clinton's affairs in a speech. We agree with him as well.

Unlike others, we are not going to buy Rolling Stone magazine on Friday but we have to wonder how much built up anger General McChrystal had after he was summoned by Obama earlier when Obama was in Copenhagen trying to get the Olympics which like everything else failed. You could tell that it was not a pleasant experience as McChrystal had to sit there and be lectured by someone who doesn't have a clue, is totally inexperienced, and actually hates the military.

Time will tell what happens to General McChrystal, but it is obvious that he and his aides have zero respect for Obama which matches a lot of the rest of the Country.

McChrystal issued an apology Tuesday for the article profile, and he reportedly fired a press aide over it.

"I extend my sincerest apology for this profile. It was a mistake reflecting poor judgment and should never have happened," McChrystal said in a Pentagon statement. "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."

Washington Post --Top allied commander apologizes for magazine profile

What is Gen. Stanley McChrystal doing granting extensive access to Rolling Stone for a piece on the Afghan war? Was he trying to burnish his image? Did the White House authorize the interviews in hopes that they could placate the increasingly critical publication?

What a disaster.

Writer Ernesto Londono got an advance copy of the piece “Runaway General” that will be out Friday. In it, McChrystal and his aides batter his rivals inside the Obama team.

It comes at a terrible time.

The American death toll continues to rise, achievements are amorphous at best and there is obvious dissention within Obama’s defense cabinet about whether the August 2011 end date for the Obama surge is firm or just a suggestion. The question for the White House today: what did you know and when did you know it about the Rolling Stone article? The answer will tell us a lot about whether McChrystal can survive this epic failure in judgment.

“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.’
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.’”

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