How Obama Decided to Fire McChrystal

Though many Washington reporters assumed President Obama would admonish Gen. Stanley McChrystal for his insubordinate remarks in a now-infamous Rolling Stone article, aides inside the White House knew the then-commander of forces in Afghanistan was doomed the minute Obama read the first paragraph. Vice President Joe Biden was the first to know about the article when McChrystal called him to offer a vague apology while Biden was in-flight. Press Secretary Robert Gibbs walked a copy of the article to Obama, who was very angry upon reading the first words. He called a meeting of his national security staff, and then the Pentagon for a list of replacements. Obama decided to have McChrystal fly into Washington to meet in person, giving the president some time to think over his decision. There was concern for the Afghan mission, but the team ultimately concluded that they were better off without the general, who had already made an impolitic speech in London and, with violence on the rise, “wasn’t exactly walking on water in the field,” aides say. Gen. David Petraeus was considered the perfect solution, because he would continue the counterinsurgency policy and “mitigate, and perhaps eliminate, the downside of a change of command.”