President Barack Obama fired Gen. Stanley McChrystal as the top military leader in Afghanistan on Wednesday following comments about administration officials made by the general and some of his aides appeared in Rolling Stone.
McChrystal’s direct boss, Gen. David Petraeus, was named by Obama to take over the 9-year war in Afghanistan. The president urged the Senate to confirm Petraeus “as swiftly as possible.” Petraeus, the Commander of the United States Central Command, was previously in charge of military efforts in Iraq.
Obama said McChrystal’s comments undermine the president’s civilian control of the military and are a national security threat. The president also said he did not make the decision to accept McChrystal’s resignation over a disagreement in policy or “out of any sense of personal insult,” according to the AP.
McChrystal came under fire for being quoted as saying such things as, “Oh, not another e-mail from [special envoy to Pakistan Richard] Holbrooke . . . I don’t even want to open it.”
Ambassador Karl Eikenberry also came under fire from McChrystal for raising doubts about Afghan President Hamid Karzai in a leaked internal document. McChrystal accused Eikenberry of saving his own skin if the war effort fails.
“Here’s one that covers his flank for the history books,” McChrystal told Rolling Stone. “Now, if we fail, they can say ‘I told you so.'”
McChrystal never directly insulted Obama, but did say he thought the president looked “uncomfortable and intimidated” during a meeting with military brass during Obama’s first week in office. A one-on-one meeting didn’t go much better.
“It was a 10-minute photo op,” a McChrystal adviser was quoted as saying in Rolling Stone. “Obama clearly didn’t know anything about him, who he was. Here’s the guy who is going to run his fucking war, but he didn’t seem very engaged. The Boss was pretty disappointed.”
McChrystal’s staff was also quoted as referring to Vice President Joe Biden as “Bite me.”
Secretary of Defense Robert Gates, who convinced Obama to pick McChrystal despite the president not knowing him, issued a statement saying the general had made a “significant mistake” and called his comments a “distraction” to the war effort.
However, Karzai came to McChrystal’s defense, calling him the “best commander” of the war’s 9-year history.
It is unknown if McChrystal will retire from his career in the Army following this incident. If he did, he would be following in the footsteps of Gen. Douglas MacArthur, who was fired by President Truman during the Korean War.