Posted on 06/22/2010 6:08:36 AM PDT by DBCJR
Expect violent summer in Afghanistan, Army Gen. Stanley McChrystal says... Gen. Stanley McChrystal apologized from overseas Tuesday for ripping the administration in a magazine article.
Now, the top U.S. commander in Afghanistan will have a chance to say sorry in person.
McChyrstal has been ordered to Washington to explain why he and his staff criticized the White House in a recent Rolling Stone interview, administration officials said Tuesday.
Earlier, McChrystal had attempted to defuse the backlash over his comments in the piece, titled "The Runaway General."
"I extend my sincerest apology for this profile. It was a mistake reflecting poor judgment and should never have happened," he 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," McChrystal added.
Instead of attending the monthly White House meeting on Afghanistan and Pakistan via teleconference, the general will be there in person Wednesday, the officials told The Associated Press.
The first casualty from the article appears to be a civilian member of McChyrstal's staff who allegedly arranged the Rolling Stone interview.
NBC News reported that Duncan Boothby quit his role on the general's public relations team. According to a senior military official, he was "asked to resign."
Last year, Obama criticized the general over his call for more troops in Afghanistan. In September, McChrystal issued a report saying without more soldiers, the war "will likely result in failure."
The president eventually added 30,000 soldiers to the war, but McChrystal and his staff felt Obama took to long and found his July 2011 deadline for withdrawal arbitrary.
"I found that time painful," McChrystal said. "I was selling an unsellable position."
Among McChrystal's criticisms in the Rolling Stone interview:
The general said he felt "betrayed" by U.S. ambassador to Afghanistan Karl Eikenberry, a former three-star general. In a leaked document last year, Eikenberry said he distrusted Afghan president Hamid Karzai. "Here's one that covers his flank for the history books," McChrystal told Rolling Stone of Eikenberry.
McChrystal, the article reports, took control of the war, the article states, "by never taking his eye off the real enemy: The wimps in the White House."
An aide is quoted as calling National Security Adviser Gen. (Ret.) Jim Jones a "clown."
On Richard Holbrooke, the president's envoy to Afghanistan and Pakistan, a McChrystal staffer says he is a "wounded animal," dangerous because rumors speculated Holbrooke would be fired.
The general said that while he voted for Obama, the two men never hit it off in meetings last fall and he found the president unprepared.
However, McChrystal said Tuesday he has "enormous respect" for Obama and his team and emphasized his devotion to winning the war.
"I remain committed to ensuring its successful outcome," he said.
Looks to me like McCrystal was set-up by White House libs.
Who in their right mind would authorize a publication like Rolling Stone to cover the war in Afghanistan?
In other words ... McCrystal is toast ...
He voted for Ubama? What a pantload.
Agreed. Of all publications, the dying, childish, all-but-forgotten 'Rolling Stone'??
Of course, if it was Pres. Bush facing such criticism from a General in the field, it would be trumpeted as evidence of Bush’s incompetence, stupidity and lack of leadership.
That said, the General should have resigned instead of complaining to the press.
McCrystal had a civilian PR person who arranged that interview. Can you imagine the reporter editorializing by saying:
McChrystal, the article reports, took control of the war, the article states, “by never taking his eye off the real enemy: The wimps in the White House.”
Those are not the General’s words.
That may be, subject to the distinct probability that said "civilian" is a civil-servant lib working in the Pentagon.
We shall see.
Like Truman fired McArther during the Korean war, he will probably be fired...(I think it was McArther) People were furious but Truman did it anyway...He said that the general didn’t insult him personally, he insulted the President of the United States....The general got a ticker tape parade in New York if my memory serves me....
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