McChrystal is in hot water. Obama will probably fire him.
http://dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2010\06\23\story_23-6-2010_pg1_2
White House summons General McChrystal over scathing interview
- Gates says top US commander in Afghanistan made ‘significant mistake’ in making comments about Obama, US officials
g McChrystal issues apology
WASHINGTON: The top US commander in Afghanistan has been summoned to Washington to explain derogatory comments about US President Barack Obama and his colleagues, US administration officials said on Tuesday.
Gen Stanley McChrystal, who publicly apologised on Tuesday for using “poor judgment” in an interview in Rolling Stone magazine, has been ordered to attend the monthly White House meeting on Afghanistan and Pakistan in person on Wednesday rather than over a secure video teleconference, according to officials who spoke on condition of anonymity. He’ll be expected to explain his comments to Obama and top Pentagon officials, these officials said.
Also on Tuesday, White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said Obama was angry about critical comments made by General McChrystal, and that all options were on the table about the general’s job.
Gibbs, asked if McChrystal’s job was safe, said there would be more to say after Obama met with the general in Washington on Wednesday. Obama has the authority to fire McChrystal. His predecessor, Gen David McKiernan, was sacked on grounds that the military needed “new thinking and new approaches” in Afghanistan.
McChrystal spent Tuesday calling those mentioned in the article to apologise, officials said. Among those was Richard Holbrooke, US special envoy to Pakistan.
Holbrooke’s office said in a two-line statement that McChrystal had called him in Kabul “to apologize for this story and to accept full responsibility for it”.
US Defence Secretary Robert Gates said the top US general in Afghanistan made “a significant mistake” and used poor judgment in remarks to the magazine reporter.
Gates said McChrystal has apologised to him.
In Kabul, Afghan President Hamid Karzai issued a statement calling McChrystal the “best commander” of the war. Karzai spokesman Waheed Omar said Karzai hopes that Obama doesn’t decide to replace him.
In Kabul on Tuesday, McChrystal issued a statement saying, “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.” “I extend my sincerest apology for this profile,” the statement said. “It was a mistake reflecting poor judgment and should never have happened,” he added.
Duncan Boothby, a special assistant to McChrystal, who set up the Rolling Stone interview with the commander, submitted his resignation on Tuesday to his superiors in the public affairs office at the NATO headquarters in Kabul, a US official said on condition of anonymity. ap
