Levin: Enough With This Obama-McChrystal ‘Rift’ Meme Already

Sen. Carl Levin (D-Mich.) clearly prefers to read entire speeches in context before calling a general insubordinate. After attending yesterday’s congressional meeting with President Obama on Afghanistan, Levin told Foreign Policy’s Josh Rogin that the president expressed high regard for his chosen commander:

“People talked about how good of a commander he’s got in the field and [Obama] agreed. People said he ought to put a lot of stock in what that commander says, and he agreed with that. Of course, others pointed out that there’s a chain of command above McChrystal that he ought to listen to, and he agreed with that as well,” Levin said.

But Levin said that story was overblown and that the president and his field commander are on the same page.

“There’s no rift with McChrystal,” said Levin, “[Obama] said he picked McChrystal and he wants McChrystal to be direct … He reiterated that McChrystal is very supportive of the deliberative process and getting the strategy right before focusing on the troop levels or resources.”