UPDATE: The plot thickens: Toby Harnden of the Telegraph says a source tells him that McChrystal has indeed tendered his resignation and that the White House is “actively discussing a replacement” in case Obama accepts it.
CNN unconfirmed
[Updated at 4:41 p.m.] Gen. Stanley McChrystal has submitted his resignation, Time magazine’s Joe Klein told CNN Monday, citing an unnamed source. CNN is working to confirm Klein’s information.
Accepted by POTUS?
Time is now walking back Klein’s scoop a bit, claiming that McChrystal didn’t actually tender his resignation but offered to do so. Over to you, Barry.
Furious President Obama summons Gen. Stanley McChrystal to D.C. I guess POTUS B+ is really a big fat F.
Enjoy the full PDF here. Or direct from the horse’s patoot.
What McChrystal and his aides said about Obama,
Even though he had voted for Obama, McChrystal and his new commander in chief failed from the outset to connect. The general first encountered Obama a week after he took office, when the president met with a dozen senior military officials in a room at the Pentagon known as the Tank. According to sources familiar with the meeting, McChrystal thought Obama looked “uncomfortable and intimidated” by the roomful of military brass. Their first one-on-one meeting took place in the Oval Office four months later, after McChrystal got the Afghanistan job, and it didn’t go much better. “It was a 10-minute photo op,” says 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 fucking war, but he didn’t seem very engaged. The Boss was pretty disappointed.”
Now, flipping through printout cards of his speech in Paris, McChrystal wonders aloud what Biden question he might get today, and how he should respond. “I never know what’s going to pop out until I’m up there, that’s the problem,” he says. Then, unable to help themselves, he and his staff imagine the general dismissing the vice president with a good one-liner.
“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?”
In private, Team McChrystal likes to talk shit about many of Obama’s top people on the diplomatic side. One aide calls Jim Jones, a retired four-star general and veteran of the Cold War, a “clown” who remains “stuck in 1985.”
McChrystal reserves special skepticism for Holbrooke, the official in charge of reintegrating the Taliban. “The Boss says he’s like a wounded animal,” says a member of the general’s team. “Holbrooke keeps hearing rumors that he’s going to get fired, so that makes him dangerous. He’s a brilliant guy, but he just comes in, pulls on a lever, whatever he can grasp onto. But this is COIN, and you can’t just have someone yanking on shit.”
At one point on his trip to Paris, McChrystal checks his BlackBerry. “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.
By far the most crucial – and strained – relationship is between McChrystal and Eikenberry, the U.S. ambassador. According to those close to the two men, Eikenberry – a retired three-star general who served in Afghanistan in 2002 and 2005 – can’t stand that his former subordinate is now calling the shots. He’s also furious that McChrystal, backed by NATO’s allies, refused to put Eikenberry in the pivotal role of viceroy in Afghanistan, which would have made him the diplomatic equivalent of the general.
and others.
Politicians like McCain and Kerry, says another aide, “turn up, have a meeting with Karzai, criticize him at the airport press conference, then get back for the Sunday talk shows. Frankly, it’s not very helpful.” Only Hillary Clinton receives good reviews from McChrystal’s inner circle. “Hillary had Stan’s back during the strategic review,” says an adviser. “She said, ‘If Stan wants it, give him what he needs.’ ”
More from McChrystal here, a description of his inner circle here.
Has anyone read the Rolling Stone magazine that profiles General Stanley McChrystal? It is McChrystal’s opinion about this administration and Afghanistan. The dirty laundry as most would say. Rule #1 Never do you criticize the boss in public. It sure must have been bad in order for this to have happened.
The thin skinned POTUS has summoned the General to D.C. Any wagers on whether McChrystal takes a hike soon? POTUS doesn’t take long to speak to the General. Remember the last time, he interrupted his very important schedule to speak to him for a whopping twenty minutes. (10 minute photo op) He is said to have thought that Obama felt uncomfortable sitting in a room filled with military honchos.
From across the pond a bit about POTUS:
You don’t get to be elected President of the United States simply for a being a nice guy. You need to be a ruthless, political opportunist, and Mr Obama has these qualities in abundance.
Did you hear that ginormous crash? That is the General’s head falling off. I sure am happy to know that McCrystal recognized the size of the circus in the White House. Question: does Barack still want to be POTUS?
June 22, 2010 at 7:18 am
Bear in mind that it was McChrystal who falsified the reports on Pat Tillman being killed by the Taliwhackers [sic], when in fact it was fratricide…
The bottom line is that there is nobody in charge at the top – an eerie manifestation of the loss of a political blowout preventer. Now, all the gunk and ooze is coming out in full force…
It’s a free-for-all in the O-What’s-His-Name administration. A complete and total free-for-all right smack dab in the middle of a massive crises of confidence of unprecedented dimensions…
God help us all…
June 22, 2010 at 7:34 am
Yes, I remember that. Wikileaks is supposed to release that video sometime this week. It’s all in the timing.
June 22, 2010 at 8:57 am
On second thought, I am leaning toward this being a hit piece – a PR stunt – a distraction if you will from the fact that indeed the wheels are coming off this administration, and the media are jumping ship…
You know, McChrystal was and still is a PR stunt-meister. That whole deal with Tillman was basically his way of admitting that Pat was worth more in terms of PR as a dead hero than as a living hero…
Of course, you never know what’s real any more with these PR junkies capable of putting the kibosh on media coverage of the gulf…
But of course, just sayin’ is all, ya know…
June 22, 2010 at 11:19 am
I don’t know NNIC. They are so devious. IMO, since McCrystal okayed the article, this was planned.
June 22, 2010 at 9:01 am
I hope they do, then maybe more
peopleAmericans will see these wars for the imperialistic resource grabbing and mass murder that they are.June 22, 2010 at 8:56 am
jmo, there are those who are in charge, they just aren’t mostly elected. I don’t count BHO as among them.
good riddance to that murderer McCrystal. he isn’t fit to serve in our military much less represent it in any way.
June 22, 2010 at 9:01 am
O-Whatever-The-Hell-His-Name-Is has proven that he will stop at nothing to distract our attention away from the issues at hand of which there are now so many frankly I’ve lost track of them…
This could be a hit piece put out there meant to distract us from the absolute calamity that this administration has become. It is basically Dubya on steroids, except that it is cleverly sold as being somehow different and better and progressive and all that crap…
We have some serious housecleaning to do in this country. Serious housecleaning…
And soul-searching, too…
June 22, 2010 at 11:08 am
McCrystal’s made his own bed by running off at the mouth. Article 88.
A freaking general should know the rules.
June 22, 2010 at 11:21 am
He knows. He said ok to the article.
June 22, 2010 at 2:54 pm
agree it is probably planned because of the new wikileaks, but I wonder what is the reason for the demand– of the oligarchs, not BHO– for McCrystal to fall on his sword.
June 22, 2010 at 2:58 pm
My guess is distraction. Too much going on.
June 22, 2010 at 3:24 pm
I wish I could say I thought BHO had found a clue; however I don’t think he had anything to do with the interview/resignation-firing-whatever except to play his little role as well.
jeebus, Hamid Karzai and his heroin running brother as well as Musharraf support McCrystal: that ought to be reason enough to be rid of him, even without the torture and Cheney-Rumsfeld-JSOC death squads.
June 22, 2010 at 7:38 am
[...] Hillary Gets High Marks Posted on June 22, 2010 by mcnorman Crossposted from McNorman’s [...]
June 22, 2010 at 10:11 am
Thanks for the PDF link.
Had a link from Politico going to the RS story, but it got scrubbed. Gave you credit
June 22, 2010 at 11:28 am
No need to give me credit Anthony…I love spreading the cheer!
June 22, 2010 at 10:57 am
I agree with NNIC, there’s no one in charge at the top and it’s even more evident as the days go on. When I hear Obama’s name, I picture him playing golf, wearing a baseball cap or shooting hoops. I don’t see him as a leader, just a spoiled brat who likes to play sports and passes off his work for others to do.
We’re screwed.
I must also add my disappointment in Hillary. Sure, she’s doing the best job she can, but I cannot forgive her carrying Obama’s water for him. The last thing he needs is another enabler.
June 22, 2010 at 11:28 am
This administration sounds like a looney farm where the loons are running the place.
June 22, 2010 at 12:20 pm
I never thought I’d see a President who was worse than George Bush but for the life of me, I felt safer with George.
I’m not sure what to think of Obama. Is he really stupid and just riding the rumor that he is intelligent? Did he pass his classes in college because he was given the pass by professor’s that didn’t want to be called racist if they flunked him?
Or…is Obama really intelligent and a master manipulator? I lean toward the master manipulator, I think.
June 22, 2010 at 12:29 pm
Manipulator, yes. Master…debatable. He lacks so much Nunly. He can’t afford to fire his general lest he have him run against him in 2012. That is the rumor.
June 22, 2010 at 1:52 pm
Nunly,
I feel the same about GWBush v TehOne. I never liked him, nor did I trust him, but I DID feel safer (than I do now) with him as pResident.
When I look at TehOne, I see a manipulator and a puppet, both. He would stab anyone in the back to get what (someone else told him) would benefit him. Look at what he did to get elected – the first time. Then the next and the next and the next. He seems to have no ethics or real values – if his actions say anything, they say the man’s not to be trusted.
June 22, 2010 at 3:14 pm
Nunly,
I share your disappointment in Hillary Clinton. She is intelligent, capable, and hard-working. But she is also an enabler. And until obama came along, Hillary was Soros’ darling.
June 22, 2010 at 3:10 pm
Nunly,
Leslie,
McN,
I think we need to distinguish between smart (, and sly. obama is not intelligent (trust the 37-year veteran of the clsssroom); in fact, I’d say he’s stupid, with only enough intelligence to recite the dozen or or so “big words” that his trainers drummed into his head. But he is sly, as sly as a box of sidewinders.
GW Bush was an undoubted doofus. But he loved this country. obama is an undoubted dolt, and he hates this country.
June 22, 2010 at 3:55 pm
Boy does that man hate this country. Perhaps this is not his country Mary?
June 22, 2010 at 7:20 pm
He is an illegal alien.
June 22, 2010 at 8:11 pm
I think he is. Even if he was born in the states, the fact that he probably went to school listed as a foreigner should be enough to know that he has no allegiance to anyone but himself.
June 22, 2010 at 4:27 pm
I don’t see how Hillary is an “enabler”. She works hard and does her job. She loves her country. She is way ahead of Obama in popularity at home and abroad. She’s soaring, he’s tanking.
June 22, 2010 at 5:16 pm
Let’s not forget what a Sec of State actually does…Obama made sure that HRC was left with little power as he divided the job description amongst many cronies. I don’t believe that she has enabled the turd much, but her name is attached to this shiteous administration. I wish she had never taken that SOS position.
June 22, 2010 at 5:35 pm
I worried for her at first. But she knows what she’s doing and I am thankful that she is there….she’s the only grown up in the whole administration. I think it would be a mistake for her to run as VP in 012. At least now she’s in a position where she can do some good in the world.
June 22, 2010 at 8:09 pm
I don’t think she should say anything to imply that she would do anything but serve at the discretion of rat bastard. Imust, they screwed her before, they will screw her again.
June 22, 2010 at 5:03 pm
Time can’t get anything straight (Obama included)!
It was actually a White House men’s room attendant that resigned………
June 22, 2010 at 5:13 pm
Bwhahhhahahahahhaa.
June 22, 2010 at 7:23 pm
ROFL, Buttered. Maybe it was moilsoc in disguise.
June 24, 2010 at 7:57 am
I am not the least bit “disappointed in Hillary” I am glad she’s there working for us rather than at home baking cookies. Why should a strong, intelligent, accomplished woman not work for her country the best way she can even under such trying circumstances. The only person she is “carrying water” for is the American people. I never expected her to fall on a sword and be sent home to do nothing for us. She’s tough. She is aware of the fact they will attack her. She’s been attacked all her life.
I’m sorry but, this meme about being disappointed in Hillary almost always seems to come from people who would vote Palin later and would like everyone else to do so too. I don’t think I am wrong about that and I mean no disrespect but, as a liberal woman who has followed Hillary’s entire career from the early eighties until now I knew ahead of time she wasn’t going to up and quit on us. I also learned in all that time that her motivation is to do what’s best for her country and that’s precisely what she is trying to do. Had she up and quit she’d have got ten seconds of recognition and left us with nothing but, frat boyz running the country. She’s always had to deal with those attacks from within the party and from outside it and she can challenge and handle them. She also has to deal with facing those who would put her down for trying at least to do some good in this debacle of an administration. Working for the greater good is always better than going home and sitting on your butt. Her work ethic is not going to allow for that for a good long time.
I cannot fathom what she was supposed to do that could have helped us more than to bite the bullet and go back to work as hard as she can. She gets little recognition for working ten times as hard as Obama and she’s doing a good job. Nobody would have expected a male politician to go home and write books. All she would have done is ruin any chance she can work for us at ALL in any way.
I hope to god she runs again. She’s the brightest politician we’ve had in my lifetime and one of the hardest working.
I just don’t trust this “disappointed in Hillary” line of thinking is all and I mean no offence but, it comes up a lot in certain circles. Outside of those you never hear it. I’m a little tired of Hillary being held to ten times the standard of everyone else. Maybe the entire party who backed her should have given up and given the entire thing over to Obama’s Chicago Machine but, we’d be a LOT worse off. She is respected around the world. Obama not so much. She’s earned that respect and it does help our country. I’m GLAD she’s where she is. I feel much safer with her there and so do a lot of others both inside the White House and outside of it.
June 24, 2010 at 9:46 am
Alice, I don’t think anyone wanted HRC to be SOS. We all knew what she would have to do in order to do her job well. She would never execute a half hearted attempt at anything. We knew what this snake oil salesman was going to shovel out to the country. I don’t have a problem with Sarah Palin. I think she is just fine doing what she does. I am happy that there are Nikki Haleys, Sarah Palins, and HRCs going to bat for this country. They don’t have to be on the same page, but I can say that they all love their country and want only the best for this country. The narcissist in the office only has one goal, self gratification.
June 24, 2010 at 9:49 am
I was never happy about her serving at the discretion of POTUS. The first thing he did was to divide her job description where he thought he could “keep the little woman” in place. This man cannot stand a woman who can hold their own.