President Obama on Thursday said the U.S. will “not miss a beat” because of the recent firing of the commander of U.S. troops in Afghanistan.
Mr. Obama fired Gen. Stanley McChrystal on Wednesday over comments the general made in a Rolling Stone magazine interview that were critical of the civilian leadership in Washington.
The president said the removal of Gen. McChrystal was not a consequence of a difference in policy.
“He was executing the policy that I had laid out; that he was executing the orders that I had issued and that were reflective of the review process that took place last year,” Mr. Obama said.
He was speaking to reporters at the White House following a meeting with Russian President Dimitry Medvedev on Thursday.
He said he is confident he has a team in place that can execute. “I’m paying very close attention to make sure that they execute and I will be insisting on extraordinary performance moving forward,” he added.
Mr. Obama has installed Gen. David H. Petraeus in Gen. McChrystal’s place.
© Copyright 2013 The Washington Times, LLC. Click here for reprint permission.
Ashish Kumar Sen is a reporter covering foreign policy and international developments for The Washington Times.
Prior to joining The Times, Mr. Sen worked for publications in Asia and the Middle East. His work has appeared in a number of publications and online news sites including the British Broadcasting Corp., Asia Times Online and Outlook magazine.
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