McChrystal summoned to White House

by Julian Barnes and Peter Nicholas

President Obama summoned his top commander in Afghanistan, Army Gen. Stanley A. McChrystal, to the White House to explain a series of comments in a magazine article in which the general and his advisors appeared dismissive of civilian oversight of the war.

Obama directed McChrystal to attend a scheduled monthly meeting on Afghanistan and Pakistan at the White House on Wednesday in person, rather than participate by teleconference, according to an Obama administration official, speaking on condition of anonymity.

At the meeting, McChrystal will be told to "explain to the Pentagon and the commander-in-chief his quotes in the piece about his colleagues,'' the official said.

The summons is a rare public rebuke of a top military commander -- and a sign of intense White House unhappiness over the conduct of McChrystal and other military figures directing the war in Afghanistan.

At the Pentagon on Tuesday, Defense officials were wondering if McChrystal would be able to survive the fallout from the article, or if he would need to resign.

McChrystal's allies said they were unsure what Obama would do, but there was clear concern among military officials that he could be relieved.

"If precedent is followed, it could be bad," one senior military official said, speaking on condition of anonymity.

In 2008 , the commander of U.S. Central Command, Adm. William Fallon, was forced to resign after a magazine article suggested he was personally preventing the Bush administration from invading Iran.

Obama should "give his commander a scolding... but tell America he is my general and I have full confidence in his military abilities," said the military official.

If he steps down, the counter-insurgency strategy he has developed will likely suffer a serious setback.

Senior military leaders, including Adm. Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, have issued statements expressing dismay and disappointment over the article in Rolling Stone.

So far no military leader has expressed support for McChrystal or publically backed his leadership.

The article, in Rolling Stone, said McChrystal and his advisors appeared to ridicule Vice President Joe Biden. It also said that his staff frequently derided top civilian leaders, including special envoy Richard C. Holbrooke and U.S. Ambassador to Afghanistan Karl Eikenberry.

Only Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton received good reviews from McChrystal's inner circle, according to the article.

The detailed report on the top command in Afghanistan inflamed relations with the White House, which in the past has felt boxed in by military commanders anxious to get more troops for the war.

In a new book about Obama's first year in power, author Jonathan Alter wrote of a showdown in the Oval Office last year on just this issue. Obama told Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates and Mullen that he was "exceedingly unhappy'' with the Pentagon's leaks and maneuvering in therun-up to the decision to send more troops to Afghanistan, according to the book.

In the Rolling Stone article, McChrystal is reported as visibly exasperated by e-mails he receives
from Holbrooke, appointed by President Obama to oversee developments in Afghanistan and Pakistan. "Oh, not another e-mail from Holbrooke," the article quotes McChrystal as saying after receiving one message. "I don't even want to open it."

The article's author, former Newsweek writer Michael Hastings, said that McChrystal and his staff, while preparing for a question-and-answer session in Paris, imagined ways of dismissing Biden "with a good one-liner."

"Are you asking about Vice President Biden?" McChrystal said, according to the article, trying out a possible answer. "Who's that?"

In a speech last summer, just as a White House strategy review was beginning, McChrystal appeared to criticize Biden's argument in favor of fewer troops. Obama later dressed down McChrystal for his comments and for the implied criticism of Biden. The Rolling Stone report does not specify whether McChrystal was again criticizing Biden or possibly poking fun at his own difficulties last year.

Late Monday, McChrystal issued an apology for the Rolling Stone article. "It was a mistake reflecting poor judgment and should never have happened," he said in a statement.

Sen. John Kerry (D-MA), chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee, suggested the White House should not act too hastily.

Kerry said his "impression is that all of us would be best served by just backing off and staying cool and calm, and, you know, not sort of succumbing to the normal Washington twitter about this for the next 24 hours.''

In a joint statement, Sens. John McCain (R-AZ), Joe Lieberman (I-CT) and Lindsay Graham (R-SC) called McChrystal's comments, as reported, "inappropriate and inconsistent with the traditional relationship between Commander-in-Chief and the military."

"The decision concerning General McChrystal's future is a decision to be made by the President of the United States," they said.

Staff writer David S. Cloud contributed to this report.