The BBC reports that General McChrystal has just left the White House after meeting President Obama over the general’s and his staff’s disparaging comments about the president, vice-president and members of the president’s national security team.
The meeting, according to the BBC, lasted about 30 minutes.
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The BBC also reports, after saying that it’s unclear whether or not McChrystal still retains his position in the military:
Gen McChrystal was also due to attend the monthly meeting on Afghanistan and Pakistan and face some of those he and his aides criticised.
It is unclear whether he will return for this 1535 GMT meeting.
UPDATE I:
Gen. Stanley A. McChrystal left the White House after meeting with President Obama for about 20 minutes, departing ahead of a meeting on the war in Afghanistan scheduled for later Wednesday morning, but there was no immediate word on whether he would keep his job as the top American commander there.
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He and Mr. Obama began their one-on-one discussion just before 10 a.m., after the general had met with his bosses at the Pentagon. General McChrystal had prepared a letter of resignation, but the White House has not said whether it was accepted.
UPDATE II:
Gen. Stanley A. McChrystal, the embattled commander of U.S. and NATO troops in Afghanistan, met one-on-one with President Obama at the White House Wednesday morning to apologize personally for derogatory comments about top administration officials involved in the Afghan war.
The general departed the White House immediately after the meeting, leaving his fate unclear.
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The meeting with Obama began at 9:51 a.m. EDT in the Oval Office and lasted about half an hour. It preceded a scheduled late-morning conference of Obama’s national security team on Afghanistan and Pakistan in the White House Situation Room. Among the top officials slated to attend were McChrystal and several of the people he and his aides had disparaged in biting remarks reported by Rolling Stone magazine. In addition to Obama, those attendees included Vice President Biden, National Security Adviser James L. Jones, special envoy Richard C. Holbrooke and, by video conference, U.S. Ambassador to Afghanistan Karl W. Eikenberry.
UPDATE III:
ABC News (ominously)reports:
The embattled general was seen walking into his house in Ft. McNair, Washington, D.C., a source told ABC News, after meeting with President Obama for about 30 minutes this morning. McChrystal did not attend the White House national security meeting scheduled for late morning, and administration officials were mum on the conversation that took place between Obama and McChrystal.
Sources said the White House asked the Pentagon for a list of possible replacements, even though administration officials insisted a decision on whether McChrystal will keep his job would not come until after he has made his case to the president in their face-to-face meeting.
Possible successors that administration officials are reviewing include Gen. James Mattis, U.S. Joint Forces Command chief; Lt. Gen. John Allen, deputy commander to Gen. David Petraeus at United States Central Command; Lt. Gen. David Rodriguez, McChrystal’s second in command in Afghanistan; and Gen. Martin Dempsey, commander of the Army Training and Doctrine Command.
McChrystal is prepared to resign if he feels he has lost the president’s confidence, but “he won’t know that until he gets there,” a source close to the general said.
UPDATE IV:
Even before the President’s scheduled Rose Garden announcement, it is reported by CNN that General McChrystal has been relieved of his command in Afghanistan.
