US Afghan general faces Obama over war criticism

THE top US commander in Afghanistan was summoned to Washington yesterday after criticising politicians and civilian officials over their attitude to the war.

Gen Stanley McChrystal, who has apologised for his comments in a Rolling Stone magazine interview, has been ordered to attend a regular monthly White House meeting in person today rather than over a secure video link, to explain himself to President Barack Obama and top Pentagon officials.

The article depicts Gen McChrystal as a lone wolf at odds with many important figures in the Obama administration and unable to persuade even some of his own soldiers that his strategy can win the war.

In the interview Gen McChrystal is described by an aide as “disappointed” in his first Oval Office meeting with Obama.

The article says that although Gen McChrystal voted for Obama, the two failed to connect from the start. Obama reprimanded Gen McChrystal last autumn for speaking too bluntly about his desire for more troops.

“I found that time painful,” Gen McChrystal said. “I was selling an unsellable position.”

Yesterday Gen McChrystal issued a statement saying: “I extend my sincerest apology for this profile. It was a mistake reflecting poor judgment and should never have happened.”

The profile, titled The Runaway General, emerged from several weeks of interviews and travel with Gen McChrystal’s tight circle of aides this spring.

It includes a list of administration figures said to back him, including Defence Secretary Robert Gates and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, and puts Vice President Joe Biden at the top of a list of those who do not.

The article claims Gen McChrystal has seized control of the war “by never taking his eye off the real enemy: The wimps in the White House”.