McChrystal Out; Petraeus Will Replace Him

President Obama has accepted Stanley McChrystal's resignation, replacing him with David Petraeus, Obama announced today in a brief statement outside the White House. Obama said he had "considerable regret" about the decision, reports the AP, and stressed that he wasn't sacking McChrystal "out of any sense of personal insult." But the war, he said, was bigger than any one person. "The conduct represented in the recently published article does not meet the standard that should be set by a commanding general."

"This is a change in personnel, but it is not a change in policy," Obama said, noting that Petraeus, who stood beside him at the podium, had helped design the current strategy. Obama said he thought unity among his team was essential to winning the war. "I welcome debate among my team, but I won’t tolerate divisions," he said, adding, "It saddens me to lose the service of a soldier I have come to respect and admire." (More Stanley McChrystal stories.)