Weakening, possible firing of McChrystal compounds sense of peril in Afghanistan

By Karen DeYoung and Scott Wilson
Washington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, June 23, 2010

The firestorm sparked by the general responsible for creating and implementing President Obama's Afghanistan strategy has further set back U.S. prospects in a war that was already on shaky ground.

Combat delays, rising casualties and new reports of Afghan corruption have led to growing skepticism in Congress and among the American public. The weakening, and possible firing, of Gen. Stanley A. McChrystal over disrespectful comments he made about Obama and his policy team has compounded the sense of peril.

However the McChrystal crisis ends, "much is different going forward," a senior administration official said. "It's hard to brush past it."

McChrystal's apparent disdain for his civilian colleagues, and the facts on the ground in Afghanistan, have exposed the enduring fault lines in the agreement Obama forged last fall among policymakers and military commanders. In exchange for approving McChrystal's request for more troops and treasure, Obama imposed, and the military accepted, two deadlines sought by his political aides. In December, one year after the strategy was announced, the situation would be reviewed and necessary adjustments made. In July 2011, the troops would begin to come home.

(More here.)