OH, NOW THEY TELL US – AT 9:12 A.M. ET:  Now that General Stanley McChrystal has been forced out and humiliated by President Obama, a Pentagon report vindicates him, and raises troubling questions about the whole episode.  From The Politico:

A Pentagon investigation has determined that neither Gen. Stanley McChrystal nor the senior officers in his inner circle made the disparaging comments to Rolling Stone that led to the general’s downfall in June.

McChyrstal was relieved of his command of U.S. troops in Afghanistan after a Rolling Stone article portrayed his team making snide remarks about Vice President Joe Biden, National Security Adviser Jim Jones and others.

But as first reported Wednesday by the New York Times, the Pentagon’s investigation into the case has established that McChrystal didn’t make any of the comments himself. In fact, Pentagon officials told POLITICO Wednesday that McChrystal was never even a “person of interest” in the probe.

The Times said that the investigation may now be focused on a mid-level naval officer who was also part of McChrystal’s group. But the paper said that the naval officer has told Navy officials that he did not make the remarks in question, either.

And this, naturally...

Reporter Michael Hastings, who wrote “The Runaway General” for Rolling Stone, reportedly declined to talk with the Pentagon’s investigators.

Of course, and I'm sure some haughty reason was given.  Mustn't compromise press independence, you know.

I always thought it odd that a general with McChrystal's experience, and the hand-picked staff around him, would make the inflammatory comments about the administration that roasted McChrystal...especially to a magazine that never had any regard for the military.  Now we know that there's no evidence they ever made these comments.

This reminds me of the case of Ray Donovan, President Reagan's secretary of labor, who was also smeared, then was cleared, then asked publicly, "Where do I go to get back my reputation?"  General McChrystal must feel the same way.

Comments, White House?

September 23, 2010