McChrystal Offers Resignation

General Stanley McChrystal, the highest ranking US general in Afghanistan and commander of both US and NATO forces, has offered to resign after he and his aides were quoted in a Rolling Stone Magazine article mocking President Barack Obama and his top advisors.

McChrystal, one of the main architects of Obama's war strategy, was summoned to Washington to explain his remarks directly to the president, Obama's spokesman said.

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Earlier, when asked whether Obama was considering ousting the general, the spokesman, Robert Gibbs, told reporters, "I would say all options are on the table."

McChrystal has apologised for the article, which quotes McChrystal's aides calling a top US official a "clown" and describing another as a "wounded animal."

Defense Secretary Robert Gates on Sunday contradicted Vice President Joe Biden’s pledge that in July 2011 “a whole lot” of U.S. forces will be leaving Afghanistan

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General Stanley McChrystal, the top US and Nato commander in Afghanistan, has said that completion of the alliance’s next military operation in the south of the country will be delayed for several months as it learns from mistakes made in February’s major military engagement in central Helmand

The White House has not released any comment on the resignation.

ENDS

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