BADMOUTHING THE BOSS: McChrystal Out, Petraeus In

June 23, 2010 1:29 pm

In this Dec. 10, 2009 file photo, Gen. Stanley McChrystal, commander of the International Security Assistance Force and commander of the U.S. Forces Afghanistan, testifies on Capitol Hill in Washington, before the House Foreign Affairs Committee hearing.

WASHINGTON – President Barack Obama ousted Gen. Stanley McChrystal as the top U.S. commander in Afghanistan on Wednesday, saying his scathing published remarks about administration officials undermined civilian control of the military and eroded trust on the president's war team.

Obama chose McChrystal's immediate superior — Gen. David Petraeus — to take over the troubled 9-year-old war in Afghanistan.

The president said he did not make the decision to accept McChrystal's resignation over any disagreement in policy or “out of any sense of personal insult.”

“I believe it is the right decision for our national security,” Obama said in a statement in the Rose Garden, where he was flanked by Petraeus along with Vice President Joe Biden, Defense Secretary Robert Gates and Adm. Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.