On McChrystal, little bark — or bite — from Obama

By Dana Milbank
Wednesday, June 23, 2010; A02

 

Gen. Stanley McChrystal flew to Washington on Tuesday afternoon to explain, among other things, why a top adviser used the phrase “Bite Me” in reference to the vice president. But White House officials didn’t wait for the general’s plane to land before sinking their teeth into him.

President Obama’s hand-selected commander in Afghanistan had, along with his aides, made shockingly insubordinate comments to Rolling Stone magazine: calling the national security adviser a “clown,” describing Obama as intimidated and disengaged, disparaging allies and top U.S. diplomats, and converting Vice President Biden’s surname to Bite Me. Obama ordered McChrystal to appear in the Situation Room on Wednesday, but in the briefing room on Tuesday, press secretary Robert Gibbs was already feasting.

First bite: “General McChrystal,” Gibbs said, “has made an enormous mistake.”

Second bite: “I think the magnitude and graveness of the mistake here are profound.”

Third bite: “The purpose for calling him here is to see what in the world he was thinking.”

Gibbs kept on chewing out the commander. “I think anybody that reads that article understands . . . what an enormous mistake this was,” he said. Parents of soldiers “need to know that the structure where they’re sending their children is one that is capable and mature enough in prosecuting a war.”

ABC News’s Jake Tapper stopped him. “Did I hear you correctly? So you’re questioning whether General McChrystal is capable and mature enough for this job he has?”

“You had my quote right,” Gibbs said.

Only two words were missing from this disembowelment of the commander: You’re fired. Gibbs hinted that Obama would deliver that message to McChrystal in person on Wednesday. If he doesn’t, it’s hard to see how he can maintain his credibility as a leader.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/06/22/AR2010062204541_pf.html