Bad General, Bad, Bad, Bad General

[SEC=UGA]

(CNN) -- Gen. Stanley McChrystal, America's top military commander in Afghanistan, has been recalled to Washington amid his controversial remarks about colleagues in a Rolling Stone article, officials said.

 

McChrystal was summoned to attend a meeting on Afghanistan and Pakistan in person rather than by video conference, a senior administration official said Tuesday.

 

"He has been recalled to Washington," another official said.

 

McChrystal apologized Tuesday for the profile, in which the general and his staff appear to mock top civilian officials, including the vice president. Two defense officials said the general has also fired a press aide over the article, set to appear in Friday's edition of Rolling Stone magazine.

 

"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."

 

In the profile written by Michael Hastings, the author writes that McChrystal and his staff had imagined ways of dismissing Vice President Joe Biden with a one-liner as they prepared for a question-and-answer session in Paris in April. The general had grown tired of questions about Biden since earlier dismissing a counterterrorism strategy the vice president had offered.

 

"'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?'"

 

McChrystal does not directly criticize President Barack Obama in the article, but Hastings writes that the general and Obama "failed to connect" from the outset after the president took office. Sources familiar with the meeting said McChrystal thought Obama looked "uncomfortable and intimidated" by the room full of top military officials, according to the article.

 

Later, McChrystal's first one-on-one meeting with Obama "was a 10-minute photo op," Hastings writes, quoting 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 (McChrystal) was disappointed."

 

The article goes on to paint McChrystal as a man who "has managed to piss off almost everyone with a stake in the conflict," including U.S. Ambassador Karl Eikenberry, Special Representative to Afghanistan Richard Holbrooke and National Security Adviser Jim Jones. Obama is not named as one of McChrystal's "team of rivals."

 

Of Eikenberry, who railed against McChrystal's strategy in Afghanistan in a cable leaked to The New York Times in January, the general said, "'Here's one that covers his flank for the history books. Now if we fail, they can say, "I told you so.'"

 

Hastings writes in the profile that McChrystal has a "special skepticism" for Holbrooke, the official in charge of reintegrating Taliban members into Afghan society and the administration's point man for Afghanistan and Pakistan.

 

"At one point on his trip to Paris, McChrystal checks his BlackBerry, according to the article. 'Oh, not another e-mail from Holbrooke,' he groans. 'I don't even want to open it.' He clicks on the message and reads the salutation out loud, then stuffs the BlackBerry back in his pocket, not bothering to conceal his annoyance."

 

"'Make sure you don't get any of that on your leg,' an aide jokes, referring to the e-mail."

 

The White House could not immediately be reached for comment on the article.

 

A U.S. military official said Tuesday that McChrystal has spoken to Defense Secretary Robert Gates, Joint Chiefs of Staff chairman Adm. Mike Mullen and officials referenced in the story, including Holbrooke and National Security Adviser Jones.

 

An official at the U.S. Embassy in Kabul said Eikenberry and McChrystal "are both fully committed" to Obama's Afghan strategy and are working together to "implement" the plan. "We have seen the article and General McChrystal has already spoken to it," according to a statement from an embassy official, making reference to McChrystal's apology.

 

"I have enormous respect and admiration for President Obama and his national security team, and for the civilian leaders and troops fighting this war and I remain committed to ensuring its successful outcome," McChrystal said in the closing to his apology.

 

CNN's Barbara Starr contributed to this report.

[BeeR]

Didn't this guy see "Patton?"

[Perchoutofwater]

Sounds like any other frustrated guy. I think most people get irritated at their bosses, particularly when their bosses know less about whatever project they work on. Most of us have been guilty of the same thing, the only difference is most of us are more careful of who we vent to.

[rattsass]

Sounds like any other frustrated guy. I think most people get irritated at their bosses, particularly when their bosses know less about whatever project they work on. Most of us have been guilty of the same thing, the only difference is most of us are more careful of who we vent to.

Maybe the level of absurdity reached epic proportions in his mind. I have to tell you, I see some pretty scary things going on. Obama never met or talked to Tony Hayward for two months. He is apparently stand-offish to the people running his war machine. Seems like those are people you might want to get to know a little bit. People that hold other people's lives in their hands and all. Obama is the Sun, and the rest of the world just orbits around him.

[Azazello1313]

I follow michael yon on facebook, and he's just been ripping this guy (mcchrystal, but also some of his subordinates) mercilessly for months. he is convinced that we ARE going to lose in afghanistan as long as he is in charge.

[Azazello1313]

yon's latest post on mcchrystal, this morning:

 

Lost the Initiative

 

General Stanley McChrystal has fumbled any initiative that we hoped to gain with the surge of troops. The Afghanistan surge clearly is failing.

 

1) The Kandahar campaign is delayed to at least Fall. This crucial military failure leaves the initiative in enemy hands.

...

2) The Pentagon has lost "control" of the narrative. Its influence with media is slipping month by month. This is occurring in a war which dozens of countries what us to win, while most Americans clearly want us to succeed. Losing the media battle in a "gimme" press atmosphere speaks volumes. General McChyrstal cannot handle the media even in a permissive media environment. That permissive environment is quickly turning hostile. The media in general seems likely to turn hostile toward McChrystal.

 

3) The command environment in Afghanistan is hostile. Most troops that I meet seem to despise General McChrystal. There appears to be even greater hostility at higher levels.

 

4) McChrystal has fieled an incompetent team. See below:

link

[Ursa Majoris]

yon's latest post on mcchrystal, this morning:

Wow. The stakes are too high to get this wrong. Obama needs to be decisive here and if McChrystal is the wrong guy (judging by the Rolling Stone article, he must be as no general in his right mind would be saying those things in public) he needs to be fired in short order.

[dmarc117]

maybe its one way of getting fired. maybe he wants to get the hell outta there.

[Azazello1313]

Wow. The stakes are too high to get this wrong. Obama needs to be decisive here and if McChrystal is the wrong guy (judging by the Rolling Stone article, he must be as no general in his right mind would be saying those things in public) he needs to be fired in short order.

one more from yon this morning:

 

The Runaway General

 

I have a copy of the Rolling Stone article. Unless McChrystal basically denies the article, he must be fired. If he is not fired, I will start calling him President McChrystal because Obama clearly is not in charge.

[bushwacked]

I follow michael yon on facebook, and he's just been ripping this guy (mcchrystal, but also some of his subordinates) mercilessly for months. he is convinced that we ARE going to lose in afghanistan as long as he is in charge.

 

Wow, this is pretty odd stuff.

Edited June 23, 2010 by bushwacked

[moneymakers]

Wow who to believe?

 

Rolling stone magazine or Lies from new York times.

 

This country has no chance and its starting to get real embarrassing.

 

Thoughts of Jimmy Carter and Helicopter crash in desert of Iran.

 

Obama can we hear another one of those feel good speech's?

 

1.Hire tax cheats to run IRS

2.Head of education of school czar- Freedomof speechwillnot allowme to fully comment

3. let oil spill go and fix itself.

4.fire top military leader because he knows your a buffoon and is telling everyone so.

5.screw up health care so bad that by the time your done with it Canada will look good.

6.We not even half way done. but hay we got our law suit against Arizona and pot legal in California to make us look good.

7.man these community organizers sure no how to run a great show

8.Hillary and her Bosnia snipper fantasys are starting to good.

Must b 100 more. but its time to let it go and take a swim on a clean beach far far away.

out of here.

[Jimmy Neutron]

maybe its one way of getting fired. maybe he wants to get the hell outta there.

 

Kinda what I was thinking this morning.... nothing like humiliating your boss in public...

[bpwallace49]

Breaking news . . . McCrystal has been relieved of command . . .

[bushwacked]

Breaking news . . . McCrystal has been relieved of command . . .

 

This seems like a good thing.

[borge007]

Screw with the bull-you get the horns.

[WaterMan]

Another unemployed person. Tally it up Steve.

[rattsass]

They shoulda hung the bastard.

[Perchoutofwater]

This seems like a good thing.

 

Maybe, maybe not. McCrystal was Obama's pick as he was supposedly the best at counter-insurgent strategy. The question is, is he doing his job as expected or not. If not then yes, this is a good decision, and this situation gave him a good excuse to can him without taking too much flack. If he was doing his job, and truly was the best choice, then this is a bad decision made to make Obama look authoritative, something he desperately needs right now, but not at the cost of the war. From what Ive seen the worst thing McCrystal did was when someone mention Biden he jokingly said "Who's that?". It seems that it was his subordinates that were making the more disparaging remarks. Yes he should have been more forceful on them, but like I've said, that is not unusual in the army or in the civilian workforce here at home. People on the ground so to say typically no more about what is going on than their bosses that sit in their offices, and will make disparaging comments about their bosses. I know I've done it, and I would imagine you have too. So, I'm not sure if it is a good thing or not. If you recall Patton wasn't well liked by the civilian leadership, and he didn't like the civilian leadership either, but he did one hell of a job. I'm not saying McCrystal is Patton, I'm just pointing out that if McCrystal is being canned for saying "Who's that?" then this is the wrong decision. If he is being canned because Obama realized he wasn't doing the job the way he thought he should and this gave him an excuse to pacify some in that decision, then it is a good move.

[WaterMan]

The military teaches you to respect your superiors. Maybe McCrystal forget that after too much caviar?

[Azazello1313]

ok, more michael yon:

 

The United States has again called upon General David Petraeus during crisis. There have been other times, the most remarkable being in January 2007 when we were on the cusp of losing the war in Iraq. The chances against success were increasingly remote. I was there through the entire surge, and more, and saw the remarkable transformation under command of General Petraeus and due to the incredible efforts of our armed forces and civilian counterparts. No book that I have read, including the one that I wrote, has fully conveyed the magnitude of those days. You simply had to be there.

 

Here we are again. This time on the cusp of losing the war in Afghanistan. The situation is worse than ever before. Again, the United States has asked General David Petraeus to step into a situation that seems hopeless to many people. It is not hopeless, just extremely bad. All is not lost, just nearly lost. Our people can turn this war around.

[Azazello1313]

will olbermann et al resuscitate their "general betray-us" campaign?

[bpwallace49]

will olbermann et al resuscitate their "general betray-us" campaign?

 

I sure hope not. Partisan hackery should never extend to the guys that are actually fighting the war. You can argue over WHY the war is in existence all you want, but the troops deserve our support that actually have the balls to but boots in the dirt abroad . . .

[Ursa Majoris]

will olbermann et al resuscitate their "general betray-us" campaign?

If they do, I promise to go chit in their collective hats and jam them on their heads.

 

I sure hope not. Partisan hackery should never extend to the guys that are actually fighting the war. You can argue over WHY the war is in existence all you want, but the troops deserve our support that actually have the balls to but boots in the dirt abroad . . .

This.

[BeeR]

If they do, I promise to go chit in their collective hats and jam them on their heads.

That would be redundant.

 

And who the heck is Yon?

[Azazello1313]

That would be redundant.

 

And who the heck is Yon?

 

here you go

Michael Yon is a former Green Beret, native of Winter Haven, Fl. who has been reporting from Iraq and Afghanistan since December 2004. No other reporter has spent as much time with combat troops in these two wars. Michael’s dispatches from the frontlines have earned him the reputation as the premier independent combat journalist of his generation. His work has been featured on “Good Morning America,” The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, CNN, ABC, FOX, as well as hundreds of other major media outlets all around the world.

 

Michael had previously written a critically acclaimed memoir, Danger Close. He was authoring another book when two of his friends died on consecutive days in Iraq (one of them being Winter Haven native Scott Helvenston). Following accounts in the American press, Michael became concerned that we were losing the war. At the same time, friends in the military said that the media was not telling the whole story. Not wanting to take sides in the increasingly acrimonious argument over the war, Michael simply wanted to learn the truth for himself, and to report without fear or favor. He decided to go to Iraq, financing his trip from his own pocket for more than half a year, then eventually receiving generous contributions from readers of his online magazine: MichaelYon-Online.com. As early as February 2005, Michael described the violence in Iraq as a civil war. In 2006, he said we were losing in Afghanistan. In 2007, he was the first reporter to claim the success of “the Surge.” When he first voiced these opinions, they were extremely controversial. Now they are conventional wisdom.

 

In 2008 Michael published his second book, Moment of Truth in Iraq, which is packed with exciting and heart-rending tales from the battlefields.

 

Even as main stream media is quietly pulling their reporters from Iraq in the wake of a weakened economy, Michael is preparing to return to Afghanistan in 2009, and from his observations and insight, Afghanistan is going to be much worse than anything we saw in Iraq and the conflict there could continue for decades.

 

Reporting from a war zone is very rough on equipment, Michael is constantly having to have his equipment repaired and replaced. Without the continued support and contributions of readers it will be impossible for him to continue his mission in Afghanistan and reporting on the victory in Iraq.

 

and as I learned yesterday, his lawyer and agent is a former huddler.