WASHINGTON - President Obama named Gen. David Petraeus as top commander in Afghanistan on Wednesday after he relieved Gen. Stanley McChrystal for disparaging comments McChrystal and his staff had made about senior administration officials in a magazine article.
Petraeus, currently McChrystal's boss as head of Central Command, needs to be confirmed by the Senate before he can assume the job. He is widely credited with turning the tide of the war in Iraq with a counterinsurgency strategy he authored. As Obama's third top commander in Afghanistan, he will be expected to repeat his Iraq success.
"Make no mistake," Obama said. "We have a clear goal. We are going to break the Taliban's momentum."
"This is a change in personnel, but it is not a change in policy," Obama said Wednesday in a Rose Garden appearance.
Obama said he accepted McChrystal's resignation because his conduct "does not meet the standard that should be set by a commanding general."
In a statement released after Obama's announcement, McChrystal said he strongly supports "the president's strategy in Afghanistan and am deeply committed to our coalition forces, our partner nations and the Afghan people. It was out of respect for this commitment - and a desire to see the mission succeed - that I tendered my resignation. It has been my privilege and honor to lead our nation's finest."
Civilian control of the military, not policy differences, required him to remove McChrystal, Obama said.
He said he did not fire him based on any difference over strategy in Afghanistan. Obama saluted McChrystal for his service. "I've got great admiration for him," he said.
Obama picked McChrystal in May 2009 after he relieved the previous commander, Gen. David McKiernan. Obama also agreed to McChrystal's call to send 30,000 more troops to push the war against the Taliban insurgents.
Obama was accompanied Wednesday by Petraeus, Vice President Biden, Defense Secretary Robert Gates and Adm. Michael Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.
Wednesday's decision came after Obama met with McChrystal for about 30 minutes in the morning. McChrystal then left before the scheduled meeting on war policy in the White House situation room.
Obama and Gates summoned McChrystal to Washington after the release Monday of an article to be published in Rolling Stone magazine in which McChrystal and his staff criticized Biden, special envoy Richard Holbrooke, national security Adviser Jim Jones and U.S. ambassador to Afghanistan Karl Eikenberry.
Obama said Tuesday that the article showed that McChrystal and his team exercised "poor judgment," but he wanted to meet with the general face-to-face before making any decisions about his tenure. Gates and Mullen also chastised McChrystal.
McChrystal, 55, apologized for the article, which said that Obama appeared intimidated and uncertain around military brass and that the president's war plans might put the general in an "unsellable" position.
As Central Command chief, Petraeus, 57, has developed relationships with the military in Pakistan. In the last year, Pakistan has sought to root out insurgents in the regions bordering Afghanistan. Removing those havens is seen as key to providing better security in Afghanistan.
"He has my full confidence," Obama said, urging Congress to approve his nomination.
Last week, Petraeus testified on Capitol Hill that there has been progress in stabilizing Afghanistan. A report on progress in Afghanistan is due at the end of the year, and the first U.S. troops are to be withdrawn in July 2011.
Petraeus stressed in his testimony that the pace of withdrawal depends on stability in Afghanistan.
There are 92,000 U.S. forces and 48,000 troops from allied countries in Afghanistan.