If he voted for Obama his is not much of a commander and by apologizing he’s lost a lot of credibility. Much better to just resign and let his words stand. He is finished anyway but now he looks weak. If I were him I’d just have an aid deliver my letter of resignation rather then let Obama chew my butt.
Just as an example of how a REAL general handled a similar situation MacAuthor met Truman half way for his butt chewing over Korea. I little island in the Pacific, he did not scurry to D.C. like a little boy. He made Truman get on a plane too. I wish we had generals like that now.