McChrystal: ‘I Regret’ If Anyone Thought My London Talk Undermined the Strategy Sessions

Sen. Jim Webb (D-Va.) wanted to know why Gen. Stanley McChrystal was giving speeches in London — a speech “seen as detrimental and even divisive” — and 60 Minutes interviews when Defense Secretary Robert Gates was telling Congress that McChrystal couldn’t testify ahead of President Obama’s decisions on Afghanistan.

“The 60 Minutes interview was scheduled before I deployed,” McChrystal said. “The discussion in London … there was no intention on my part to influence or in any way negatively impact the decision-making process. I regret if there’s any impression that it did but there was absolutely no intent on my part to do that.”

That London speech caused a media firestorm divorced from what McChrystal actually said.