The top US commander in Afghanistan has been summoned to Washington to explain derogatory comments about President Barack Obama and his colleagues, administration officials said Tuesday. Gen. Stanley McChrystal, who publicly apologized Tuesday for using “poor judgment” in an interview in Rolling Stone magazine, has been ordered to attend the monthly White House meeting on Afghanistan and Pakistan in person Wednesday rather than over a secure video teleconference, according to officials who spoke on condition of anonymity. He'll be expected to explain his comments to Obama and top Pentagon officials, these officials said. Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Adm. Mike Mullen has told McChrystal of his “deep disappointment” over the article, a spokesman said. The article in this week's Rolling Stone depicts McChrystal as a lone wolf on the outs with many important figures in the Obama administration and unable to persuade even his own soldiers that his strategy can win the war. The interview describes McChrystal, 55, as “disappointed” in his first meeting with Obama. The article says that although McChrystal voted for Obama, the two failed to connect from the start. “I found that time painful,” McChrystal said in the article, on newsstands Friday. “I was selling an unsellable position.” In Kabul on Tuesday, McChrystal issued a statement saying: “I have enormous respect and admiration for President Obama and his national security team, and for the civilian leaders and troops fighting this war and I remain committed to ensuring its successful outcome.” “I extend my sincerest apology for this profile,” the statement said. “It was a mistake reflecting poor judgment and should never have happened.”
