The 10 Most Intriguing People of 2009

Thanks to General McChrystal, the commander in Afghanistan, President Obama finally sent more troops and devoted more resources to that war. One of the few holdovers from the Bush administration, Gen. McChrystal has shown foresight as a leader and had the courage to keep national attention on the conflict without alienating the president. And while he revealed that he and Obama have only spoken once since the president took office, he was full of praise this month after Obama agreed to send 30,000 more troops to Afghanistan. Now McChrystal says he believes “we will absolutely be successful” in our mission there. We have to be.