McChrystal-article inquiry said to leave matters unsettled

— An Army inquiry into a Rolling Stone magazine article about Gen. Stanley McChrystal has found that it was not the general or senior officers on his staff who made the most egregious comments that led to his abrupt dismissal as the top Afghan commander in June, according to Army and Pentagon officials.

But the review, commissioned after the episode, does not wholly resolve who was responsible for the inflammatory quotes, most of which were anonymous.

The Army review has been turned over to a higher-level inquiry by the Pentagon’s inspector general because the matter involves not only a four-star general but also several subordinates outside the Army.

The Army report, which has not been released, points some blame at a mid-level Navy special-warfare officer who served as an aide to McChrystal, according to Army, Pentagon and other military officials.

But that officer was never interviewed by the Army’s investigators, and so was blamed based on the comments of others. The officer has told Navy officials that he did not make the offending comments, according to Pentagon officials.

The actions or comments of two civilians on the general’s team were criticized by the Army review, officials said.

McChrystal, who was summarily recalled by President Barack Obama to Washington, where he accepted responsibility for the episode and resigned, is now teaching at Yale and making the rounds on the lecture circuit. He was replaced as the commander in Afghanistan by Gen. David Petraeus, his former boss.

In the article, McChrystal was not directly quoted saying anything overtly insubordinate, and the report noted that he might not even have been present to hear some of the disrespectful comments by members of his staff regarding Obama, Vice President Joe Biden and some of their top aides.

But people identified as senior aides to the general were quoted disparaging many senior members of the Obama national-security team, including one aide who, in banter with the general, referred to Biden as “Bite Me.” One McChrystal aide was quoted calling Gen. James Jones, the national security adviser, a “clown,” and McChrystal himself was described as reacting with disdain upon receiving an e-mail from Richard Holbrooke, the special representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan.

Months later, his forced retirement remains a topic of Pentagon discussion, and the investigative process has only served to fuel the consternation.

“More of this ‘Who shot Stan?’ serves no purpose,” said a senior Pentagon official.

In undertaking its review, the Army inspector general set out not to extend the matter but to settle it, Army officials said.

Pentagon officials said the Army’s review might also serve a secondary and more parochial purpose. At least two of the more senior Army officers on McChrystal’s staff were up for promotions or new assignments, and the Army would not want to forward the nominations until they were cleared.

Details of the investigations and resulting issues were described by a dozen Pentagon civilians and military officers who read the Army review or were briefed on it; they requested anonymity because the investigation was continuing.

Defense Secretary Robert Gates and Adm. Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, had championed McChrystal but both supported Obama’s decision to accept his resignation. They spoke of the importance of preserving civilian control of the military and stressed that a commander was responsible for establishing the leadership climate and for actions by subordinates.

Front Section, Pages 4 on 09/23/2010

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