President Barack Obama has accepted the resignation of General Stanley McChrystal, the commander of the International Security and Assistance Force in Afghanistan, he will be replaced by General David Petraeus:
President Barack Obama accepted the resignation of Gen. Stanley McChrystal, the top U.S. commander and strategist of the Afghan war, following comments by the general and his aides disparaging the president and other senior officials.
Mr. Obama nominated Gen. David Petraeus, the head of the military’s Central Command and the architect of the surge of forces into Iraq in 2007, to take over as the commanding general in Afghanistan.
The nomination of Gen. Petraeus, who still requires Senate confirmation, sends a signal that the president stands behind the counterinsurgency tactics pushed hard by Gen. McChrystal and championed by Gen. Petraeus.
Mr. Obama said his acceptance of Gen. McChrystal’s recommendation didn’t reflect a disagreement about strategy or any sense of personal insult. “We are in full agreement about our strategy,” he said Wednesday, expressing “great admiration” for the general.
“But war is bigger than any one man,” Mr. Obama said. “As difficult as it is to lose Gen. McChrystal, I believe it is the right decision for our national security.”
He said the change was necessary to maintain a “unity of effort” in Afghanistan. “I welcome debate among my team, but I won’t tolerate division.”
I’m sad to see Gen. McChrystal’s career end this way, but given what’s happened I don’t see how he could have stayed on. The remarks made Gen. McChrystal and members of his staff in Rolling Stone were openly contemptuous of the civilian leadership… Article 88 of the Uniform Code of Military Justice couldn’t be more on that point:
Any commissioned officer who uses contemptuous words against the President, the Vice President, Congress, the Secretary of Defense, the Secretary of a military department, the Secretary of Transportation, or the Governor or legislature of any State, Territory, Commonwealth, or possession in which he is on duty or present shall be punished as a court-martial may direct.
Simply put there no was no other way this controversy could end, General McChrystal had to go.
Related
- Why McChrystal Must Go – Stephen Hayes, The Weekly Standard
- A McChrystal Endnote – Victor Davis Hanson, National Review
- Former Bush White House officials say McChrystal should go – Jon Ward, The Daily Caller