Four-Star General
General Stanley McChrystal was appointed commander of the U.S.-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) in Afghanistan in the spring of 2009. In his initial assessment of the country McChrystal wrote that Afghanistan was on the brink of collapse. "Inadequate resources," he wrote, "will likely result in failure." President Obama subsequently approved the depolyment of 30,000 reinforcements to Afghanistan.
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Hearts and Minds
A veteran of many years in the special-operations branch of the Army, McChrystal in Afghanistan employed a counterinsurgency doctrine borrowed heavily from his friend and colleague General David Petraeus, the architect of U.S. policy in Iraq. The doctrine holds that the best way to deal with a guerrilla insurgency is to provide security for the populace rather than focus exclusively on combat.
Regular Army
McChrystal's father and grandfather were both generals. He is a 1976 graduate of the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, a member of the same class as General Ray Odierno, now the commanding officer in Iraq.
War Room
In 2003, McChrystal (seen here in Kandahar in 2009) was appointed commander of the Joint Special Operations Command (JSOC), a branch of the army charged with performing highly classified operations. It was under his leadership that JSOC successfully located and killed Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, leader of Al-Qaeda in Iraq in 2006.
Strategy
As a commander in Afghanistan, one of McChrystal's first moves was to place strict limits on aerial attacks in combat situations. "Afghans take huge offense at the killing of civilians," he says. "They assume we are omniscient and omnipotent, so if we bomb innocent civilians, they assume that was our intent."
Commander in Chief
McChrystal's disparaging remarks about various figures in the Obama Administration, made to an interviewer from Rolling Stone magazine and published in late June 2010, damaged his standing with the White House. The president called the Commander to Washington to meet with him personally about the comments in the article.
Difficult
In the Rolling Stone article, McChrystal and his aides are critical of almost every member of Obama's national security team, saying that the President himself seemed "uncomfortable and intimidated" during his first meeting the the general.
The Special Envoy
An aide to Mchrystal is quoted in the article speaking disrespectfully of Richard Holbrooke, right, who Obama appointed as Special representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan. "He's like a wounded animal," the aide says, "Holbrooke keeps hearing rumors that he's going to be fired, so that makes him dangerous."
Transport
The firing comes at a critical time in the Afghan war. The forces of the allied command are struggling to complete the strategic initiatives in Marjah and Helmand Province, and U.S. casualties continue to mount. Many observers say that a clear end to the war is not in sight.
What's Next
The White House has announced that McChrystal's position will be taken by David Petraeus.
SOURCE: TIME Magazine
