McChrystal's Future in Balance After Outburst
The bad blood that has flowed back and forth between the White House and the military has now spilled into print.
The White House says Gen. Stanley McChrystal, the top U.S. commander in Afghanistan, made an "enormous mistake" when he and his aides criticized the commander in chief and other administration officials in a magazine article. President Obama has summoned McChrystal to the White House to explain himself and late Tuesday, CBS News learned the general has submitted his resignation.
In a jaw-dropping display of disrespect and indiscretion, aides to McChrystal are quoted in Rolling Stone magazine as saying the general "was pretty disappointed" after his initial meeting with the president and thought the commander in chief looked "uncomfortable and intimidated" around military brass, CBS News National Security Correspondent David Martin reports.
"I gave him the article last night, and he was angry," White House press secretary Robert Gibbs said during his daily briefing Tuesday.
The same article quotes McChrystal as jokingly coming up with answers to a pretend question about Vice President Joe Biden.
"Who's that?" McChyrstal cracks.
"'Biden,' says an aide. "'Did you say, 'Bite me?'"
The same anonymous aides go on to call the president's national security adviser a "clown."
It didn't stop there. McChrystal is depicted as groaning when he receives an e-mail from special envoy Richard Holbrooke on his BlackBerry. McChrystal is also quoted as accusing the U.S. ambassador to Afghanistan, Karl Eikenberry, of having "betrayed" him by going behind his back to fight his request for more troops.
"There has clearly been an enormous mistake in judgment to which he's going to have to answer," Gibbs said.
It is perhaps the worst confrontation between a president and a battlefield commander since President Truman fired Douglas Macarthur for insubordination over the conduct of the Korean War. McChrystal immediately apologized but has been summoned to Washington for a meeting with the president Wednesday which will decide whether he stays or goes.
"The reason we're calling him here is to see what in the world he was thinking," Gibbs said.
That's very close to saying the president has lost confidence in McChrystal's judgment, usually sufficient grounds for dismissal. But McChrystal is viewed by many as indispensable to the war in Afghanistan, which is just entering its make-or-break phase.
"I think it would be a significant setback for the war effort," said The Brookings Institution's Michael O'Hanlon. "There are other good generals in the United States military and in NATO, but nobody is going to be as up to speed as McChrystal in these next six months."
An offensive in the Helmand River Valley has taken longer than expected to produce results and the all-important attempt to retake Kandahar from the Taliban has been delayed by a couple months. This is as much about the Obama presidency as about McChrystal's career.
"This is his strategy now," said The Brookings Institution's Stephen Hess. "It's not McChrystal's strategy anymore. It's Obama's strategy."
It's not the first time McChrystal has gotten in trouble with the White House. It started last fall when McChrystal told Martin he had only spoken with the president once in 70 days, making Mr. Obama looking detached from the war.
McChrystal on the Challenges in Afghanistan
Then he gave a speech in which he seemed to dismiss out of hand Biden's proposal to abandon nationbuilding in Afghanistan and focus on going after the Taliban.
"A strategy that does not leave Afghanistan in a stable position is probably a short-sighted strategy," McChrystal said.
That earned him a private meeting with the president aboard Air Force One.
The White House has long suspected the military of mounting a campaign of press leaks designed to coerce the president into sending more troops. The president got so mad last fall he dressed down both Defense Secretary Robert Gates and Adm. Mike Mullen, chairman of the joint chiefs of staff.
When author Jonathan Alter asked the president if he felt the military had jammed him on the troop decision, he gave a non-answer.
"Let me first of all say that I neither confirm or deny that I've gotten jammed," Mr. Obama said.
But now the president and his team have been dissed in public. He can choose to accept or reject McChrystal's letter of resignation, and the future of the war could depend on what he decides.
More McChrystal Coverage
Pictures: General McChrystal and President Obama
McChrystal Ordered to W.H. to Explain Critique
White House Leaves Door Open to Firing McChrystal
Top Democrat David Obey Calls for "Dangerous" McChrystal to be Relieved of Command
McChrystal, Staff Disparage Team Obama
The McChrystal Fallout
General McChrystal Clearly in Four-Star Trouble
Gates: McChrystal Made a "Significant Mistake"
Hamid Karzai Backs McChrystal amid Uproar
McCain, Lieberman, Graham: McChrystal Comments Inappropriate
McChrystal Apologizes for Critical Remarks
