Is it enough?
"I extend my sincerest apology for this profile,” he said. “It was a mistake reflecting poor judgment and should never have happened. Throughout my career, I have lived by the principles of personal honor and professional integrity. What is reflected in this article falls far short of that standard."
So says the top commander in Afghanistan, General Stanley McChrystal, in the wake of the publication of a Rolling Stones article where, in a series of "unguarded moments," McChrystal and his staff made disparaging remarks about the President, the Vice President, the national security advisor, the ambassador to Afghanistan, and the special envoy to Afghanistan and Pakistan.
McChrystal has been summoned to White House for a meeting with a "furious" President Obama and the question on everyone's mind today is, should he be fired?
Senator John Kerry (D-MA) called for everyone to "stay cool and calm," and NATO has issued a statement indicating "continued support," but others insist that he must be fired.
Josh Marshall at TPM says:
The McChrystal situation places President Obama in an incredibly difficult situation. By almost any measure, public insubordination of this level demands he be fired. A president just loses too much face if something like that isn't clearly punished. And if he's not it will legitimate what amounts to a culture of insubordination. At the same time, firing McChrystal now would completely upset the president's Afghanistan policy at a critical moment -- and it's a policy the White House seems to believe is going well.
... while Spencer Ackerman points out that:
There’s only a year to go before the July 2011 date to begin the transition to Afghan security responsibility and the Kandahar tide is starting to rise. It’ll be hard to fire McChrystal without ripping the entire Afghanistan strategy up, and I’ve gotten no indication from the White House that it’s interested in doing that.
Of course McChrystal should be fired. His words seem to rise to the level of insubordination as outlined in the Uniform Code of Military Justice:
Any commissioned officer who uses contemptuous words against the President, the Vice President, Congress, the Secretary of Defense, the Secretary of a military department, the Secretary of Transportation, or the Governor or legislature of any State, Territory, Commonwealth, or possession in which he is on duty or present shall be punished as a court-martial may direct.
And if they don't, they obviously show an incredible lack of judgment.
For more discussion, see webranding's diary.
Update: Secretary of Defense Gates has issued a statement:
I read with concern the profile piece on Gen. Stanley McChrystal in the upcoming edition of ‘Rolling Stone’ magazine. I believe that Gen. McChrystal made a significant mistake and exercised poor judgment in this case. We are fighting a war against al Qaeda and its extremist allies, who directly threaten the United States, Afghanistan, and our friends and allies around the world. Going forward, we must pursue this mission with a unity of purpose. Our troops and coalition partners are making extraordinary sacrifices on behalf of our security, and our singular focus must be on supporting them and succeeding in Afghanistan without such distractions. Gen. McChrystal has apologized to me and is similarly reaching out to others named in this article to apologize to them as well. I have recalled Gen. McChrystal to Washington to discuss this in person.
Exercised poor judgment versus directly threaten the U.S.? Sounds like a slap on the wrist and let's move along.