US President Barack Obama today sternly warned senior members of his war cabinet and top military brass against “pettiness” and infighting after firing General Stanley McChrystal.
A senior US official said that Mr Obama spent 30 minutes in the Situation Room of the White House with senior subordinates, outlining his decision to accept the Afghan war commander’s resignation after his disparaging remarks in a magazine article.
“I would describe the President’s remarks as stern,” the official said on condition of anonymity.
“His overall message was that we have to remember why we are doing this… he did not want to see pettiness.
“There is tension because it is hard, but what he is not going to abide by is pettiness.”
Mr Obama stressed that “this was not about personalities and reputations, it was about our men and women in uniform and serving our country”, the official said.
Gen McChrystal’s remarks to Rolling Stone magazine, in which he or aides disparaged several members of Obama’s governing team, raised speculation about the possible divisions in the administration over the war.
Mr Obama met senior national security officials and military leaders brass after spending half an hour alone with Gen McChrystal and time with General David Petraeus in a meeting in which he asked the general to lead the Afghan war.
The meeting included administration heavy hitters including Mr Obama’s national security adviser James Jones, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, Vice President Joe Biden and Secretary of Defence Robert Gates, the official said.
The official also explained the choice of Gen Petraeus, architect of the Iraq war surge strategy, to replace Gen McChrystal, saying that he reasoned he was well known to the Afghans, Pakistan, and had ties with US NATO allies.
In his job as head of US Central Command, Gen Petraeus was also intimately involved with developing Afghan strategy, and Mr Obama’s decision last year to send 30,000 more US troops into the war.
“The president believes strongly that General Petraeus offered the greatest continuity and the greatest chance in ensuring that there was no interruption in our progress,” the official said.
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