The commander of international forces in Afghanistan was scheduled to pay a surprise visit to Marines at Combat Outpost Hanson in Marjah this week, some four months after they waged a fierce offensive to break the Taliban's grip. Instead, General Stanley McChrystal headed back to Washington, his job in jeopardy over published remarks that criticize President Obama and senior staff members for hamstringing efforts to turn around the nine-year war.
The trip was canceled "thanks to a Rolling Stone article," an officer deadpanned as word was announced at an evening briefing inside a dust-caked tent on the base. At dinner, a Marine joked that McChrystal, known for his spartan habits, had asked for trouble when he broke "standing order No. 1: no drinking," referring to a booze-soaked evening at an Irish pub in Paris that was described in the article, during which he and some of his aides unwound in the presence of a reporter. "I talk trash about the President sometimes too," he says, "but at least I don't get fired for it." One lesson from the Rolling Stone episode among both officers and grunts: wariness of prying reporters. Almost everyone Time talked to for this story asked not to be quoted by name.
By: Brant
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