Sacked McChrystal cleared of wrongdoing in Pentagon report

Washington, Apr 19 (PTI) General Stanley McChrystal,
who was sacked last year as the US and NATO commander in
Afghanistan after publication of an article that quoted him as
criticising the Obama administration, has been cleared of
wrongdoing by the Pentagon.
The Pentagon investigation report made public on Monday
disputed the accuracy of the article in the Rolling Stone
magazine that McChrystal made any derogatory remarks about US
President Barack Obama.
"The evidence was insufficient to substantiate a
violation of applicable DoD (Department of Defense) standards
with respect to any of the incidents on which we focused,"
said the Pentagon report released to the media.
The report concluded that not all of the events at the
issue occurred as were reported in the article.
"In some instances, we found no witness who acknowledged
making or hearing the comments as reports. In other instances,
we confirmed that the general substance of an incident at
issue occurs, but not in the exact context described in the
article," it said.
According to The Los Angeles Times, the conclusions
came too late to change the outcome of the McChrystal affair,
widely reported as a case of insubordination by what the
article described as a "runaway general".
"But they could open President Obama and others in the
White House to criticism that they acted hastily in accepting
McChrystal's resignation," the daily reported.
Defending its news story, following which McChrystal
was sacked, Rolling Stone in a statement said that the report
by the Pentagon's inspector general offers no credible source
– or indeed, any named source – contradicting the facts as
reported in its story.
"Much of the report, in fact, confirms our reporting,"
it said, noting only that the Pentagon was unable to find
"witnesses who acknowledged making or hearing the comments as
reported".
"This is not surprising, given that the civilian and
military advisors questioned by the Pentagon knew that their
careers were on the line if they admitted to making such
comments," the magazine said.
"Asking unnamed sources to reveal their identities
strikes us as an exercise in futility. Rolling Stone stands by
our story, which is accurate in every detail.
"We also note that Gen Stanley McChrystal's own
response to the story was to issue an apology, saying that
what was reflected in the article fell 'far short' of his
personal," the magazine said.