Gen. David Petraeus replaces the commander who was disgraced by Rolling Stone

Gen. David Petraeus was named to replace Gen. Stanley McChrystal as being the new U.S. commander within the Afghanistan war. After a profile of McChrystal in Rolling Stone portrayed him as openly contemptuous of President Obama and key members of his national security team, McChrystal offered his resignation and Obama accepted it. Opinion has been universal so far that to preserve America’s civilian control over the military, McChrystal needed to go and that Petraeus is the best choice to take over in Afghanistan.

Article Source: Gen. David Petraeus replaces commander disgraced by Rolling Stone

Political savvy of Petraeus

Gen. David Petraeus, who heads U.S. Central Command, took what looks like certain failure in Iraq and brought the U.S. war there toward an acceptable outcome. David Ignatius of the Washington Post said that if the Taliban sold stock, its price would have fallen dramatically after Wednesday’s announcement that Petraeus would assume control in Afghanistan. Ignatius also said that Petraeus is one of the most deft political figure that he has ever seen in uniform who always remembered that he worked for civilian leadership.

With Petraeus, Obama has a win-win

Appointing Gen. Petraeus after McChrystal’s challenge to his leadership is a win-win situation for Obama, as outlined by the Christian Science Monitor. Obama gets to have a top commander back within the field, and he also reasserts his role as civilian commander in chief. After insulting comments about the president and made by Gen. McChrystal and his staff to a reporter from Rolling Stone, Obama quickly summoned the general from Afghanistan to Washington and he won’t be going back.

Gen. McChrystal's apology was of no help

Gen. McChrystal apologized for the article on Tuesday but didn’t say he was misrepresented by it. CNN reports that a source who was close to McChrystal said that during the 30-minute meeting between Obama and McChrystal on Tuesday, McChrystal briefly explained the Rolling Stone article that derailed his career, took responsibility and then offered his resignation. The president “had no intention of keeping him,” the source reports. McChrystal’s personal belongings could be shipped from Afghanistan to his home.

Meet the new boss, same as the old boss

Gen. Petraeus represents a change in style but not substance as outlined by Michael Hastings, the freelance writer of the Rolling Stone article at the center of the controversy. On rollingstone.com June 23, Hastings wrote that when Obama swapped out McChrystal with Petraeus the president said it was a change in personnel, not policy, and policy has been the problem all along. Hastings said that Obama picked Petraeus because he is a master at telling Americans what they want to hear. It can be Petraeus’ job to spin Afghanistan from a defeat into a face-saving draw after having spent billions of dollars and thousands of lives that won’t make us any safer from terrorists.

Additional info at these websites

Washington Post

washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/06/23/AR2010062304005.html?hpid=opinionsbox1

Christian Science Monitor

csmonitor.com/USA/Politics/2010/0623/In-replacing-McChrystal-with-Gen.-David-Petraeus-Obama-reasserts-authority

CNN

edition.cnn.com/2010/POLITICS/06/23/general.mcchrystal.obama.apology/?hpt=T1&imw=Y&fbid=w2XX2duDWrt