US President Barack Obama today removed General Stanley McChrystal as the top NATO commander in Afghanistan over a magazine article that portrayed him as dismissive of senior US officials for their concerns about the ongoing war effort, according to dpa. McChrystal was summoned to Washington for a meeting with Obama that lasted less than 30 minutes Wednesday morning and at which he tendered his resignation. The general left the White House before a planned meeting on military strategy. Obama tapped General David Petraeus, currently the head of all forces in the Middle East at the top of Central Command and the former commander of US forces in Iraq, to replace McChrystal. "War is bigger than any one man or woman, whether a private, a general or a president. And as difficult as it is to lose General McChrystal, I believe that it is the right decision for our national security," Obama said, calling the article a "diversion" from the war effort. The president said he regretted the loss of McChrystal, but the decision to replace the general reaffirmed the chain of command, with civilian control of the military. "The conduct represented in the recently published article does not meet the standard that should be set by a commanding general," Obama said. "It undermines the civilian control of the military that is at the core of our democratic system. And it erodes the trust that's necessary for our team to work together to achieve our objectives in Afghanistan." In a profile by Rolling Stone magazine, McChrystal is portrayed as critical of top US officials including Obama, Vice President Joe Biden and special envoy to Afghanistan and Pakistan, Richard Holbrooke, for their doubts about his war strategy. But both Obama and McChrystal insisted Wednesday that they did not have a disagreement over policy. "I don't make this decision based on any difference in policy with General McChrystal, as we are in full agreement about our strategy," Obama said. "Nor do I make this decision out of any sense of personal insult." McChrystal issued a statement saying he tendered his resignation "out of a desire to see the mission succeed." "I strongly support the president's strategy in Afghanistan and am deeply committed to our coalition forces, our partner nations, and the Afghan people," McChrystal said. "It was out of respect for this commitment - and a desire to see the mission succeed - that I tendered my resignation," he said. "It has been my privilege and honour to lead our nation's finest." On Tuesday, McChrystal had already issued an apology, saying the article "was a mistake reflecting poor judgment and should never have happened." In the article, McChrystal is quoted as searching for one-liners to dismiss Biden during a dinner in Paris - one aide suggests telling Biden to "bite me." Another adviser said McChrystal was disappointed with Obama during their first meeting at the White House in 2009. "Obama clearly didn't know anything about him, who he was. Here's the guy who's going to run his fucking war, but he didn't seem very engaged. The Boss was pretty disappointed," the Rolling Stone article quotes the adviser as saying. Ahead of McChrystal's resignation, Afghan President Hamid Karzai told Obama he believed the dismissal would disrupt the war effort. Karzai "is of the view that McChrystal has been a great partner of the Afghan government and the Afghan people," spokesman Wahid Omar said in Kabul. "He is a soldier of great integrity and he has been very helpful in the process here in Afghanistan."
