White House Moved Quickly to Replace McChrystal

President Obama said that, as commander in chief, he had to remove Gen. Stanley McChrystal Wednesday as his top commander in Afghanistan, citing the conduct he exhibited in that now-infamous magazine article.

"Today I accepted Gen. Stanley McChrystal's resignation as commander of the international security assistance force in Afghanistan," Mr. Obama said from the White House Rose Garden.

In a show of unity, Mr. Obama was accompanied by his top military advisers, including Gen. David Petraeus, the president's choice to replace McChrystal, CBS News Correspondent Chip Reid reports. As commander of U.S. Central Command, Petraeus has been McChrystal's boss.

The president said that while he admired McChrystal's military career, comments in an article in Rolling Stone magazine simply crossed the line.

"The conduct represented in the recently published article does not meet the standard that should be set by a commanding general," Mr. Obama said.

The president said McChrystal had undermined trust on his national security team, making it all but impossible for them to function effectively.

Could McChrystal, for example, regain the trust of National Security Adviser Jim Jones after McChrystal's top aides called him "a clown?" How about State Department official Richard Holbrooke, whom they called "a wounded animal?"

McChrystal himself joked about Vice President Joe Biden, saying "Who's that?"

Even the president was mocked as "uncomfortable and intimidated" by military brass and not "very engaged" in his first meeting with McChrystal, a remark that particularly angered the president.

Mr. Obama though said his decision was not made out of any sense of personal insult but because McChrystal's conduct violated a fundamental principle of American democracy.

"It undermines the civilian control of the military that is at the core of our democratic system," Mr. Obama said.

The president made his decision in a flurry of Oval Office meetings, first of which was 30 minutes alone with McChrystal when he accepted his resignation.

Then Mr. Obama spent 45 minutes with top advisers on choosing a replacement. At the top of the president's list, Petraeus, whom he had discussed with Defense Secretary Robert Gates the day before, suggesting the president had his mind made up well before meeting with McChrystal.

Next: 45 minutes with Petraeus. The president offered him the job, and Petraeus accepted.

Then 30 minutes in the Situation Room with his national security team to explain his decision.

Finally, the announcement in the rose garden.

"Let me say to the American people this is a change in personnel, but it is not a change in policy," Mr. Obama said.

In fact, the highly respected Petraeus was a chief architect of the current strategy in Afghanistan.

Even some of the president's toughest critics praised the choice.

"We think there is no one more qualified or more outstanding leader than General Petraeus," Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., said.

But with only 40 percent of Americans saying the war is going well, Petraeus's confirmation hearings could revitalize the war's critics.

Fifteen months ago, in his first speech on Afghanistan as president, Mr. Obama posed the key question himself.

"Why do our men and women still fight and die there?" Mr. Obama asked then.

It's a question he's still answering today.

"So make no mistake, we have a clear goal," Mr. Obama said. "We are going to break the Taliban's momentum."

Sources say the president had strong words Wednesday for the rest of his Afghanistan team, too, that it's time to stop the petty squabbling and start working together.

More McChrystal Coverage

McChrystal Relieved of Duty; Petraeus Tapped
Watch Obama's Statement
David Petraeus Brings Experience to the Job
What Happened in the Oval Office
In Afghanistan, a New General -- But An Old Strategy
Bob Schieffer and Bill Plante React to the Announcement
McChrystal Statement: I Resigned to See the Mission Succeed
McChrystal Situation Imperils War Funding Bill
Washington Unplugged: McChrystal Fallout Shakes Up Administration
Is McChrystal "Damaged Goods"?
Pictures: General McChrystal and President Obama
CBSNews.com Special Report: Afghanistan