Barack Obama, as I wrote in my Examiner column today, faced a tough decision on what to do about General Stanley McChrystal and must take command. I think he just did that in his brief and graceful statement announcing that he had accepted McChrystal’s resignation and appointed General David Petraeus to take his place. Obama was on firm ground when he said that the statements of McChrystal and his staffers were improper and unacceptable conduct by military officers; the principle of civilian control of the military is hugely important, and Obama asserted it forcefully. Obama also sent a message to other appointees: no more public disagreements and leaked misgivings. There must be “unity of effort . . . across our national security team.” This was a message to, among others, one of the men standing behind him, Vice President Joe Biden.
There is much that remains to be done to gain success—Obama still won’t use the word victory—in Afghanistan. But this was a strong performance, made by a president who was suddenly forced to make a binary choice under terrific pressure. Good for him.
Incidentally, the appointment of Petraeus to replace McChrystal was recommended yesterday by the Weekly Standard’s Bill Kristol. Does the president read the Weekly Standard’s The Blog?
