Legal Commentary

Obama Announcement: Live Thread

By Jeralyn

President Obama is speaking. VP Biden is right behind him.

He says relieving Gen McCrystal the right thing to do.

"War is bigger than any one man."

The Rolling Stone interview undermines the role of the military and erodes the trust that is necessary for our teams to work together.

There must be adherence to a strict code of conduct. There must be respect for the civilian command over the military.

He must do whatever is necessary to succeed in Afghanistan and defeat al Qaida. We cannot succeed without making this change.

Now is the time for all of us to come together.

We need to remember what this is all about. Our nation is at war. We face a tough task. We have a clear goal. We are going to break the Taliban's momentum. We will apply relentless pressure. That's a strategy we agreed to last fall and are carrying out in Afghanistan and Pakistan. [More...]

This is a change in personnel but not in policy. Gen. Petraus has been part of this policy. He has my full confidence. I urge the Senate to confirm him as soon as possible.

This was a difficult decision. He's come to respect and admire McCrystal. He thanks him for his service and contribution. He looks forward to working with Pettaus.

No questions, he walks away.

My reaction: Short and to the point. He seemed angry. His tone was stern, firm and he was in control. He made the right call, both in relieving McCyrstal and in appointing Petraus.

Full post as published by TalkLeft on June 23, 2010 (boomark / email).