Retired Army Gen. Stanley McChrystal said Sunday that he has regrets about not finishing his work in Afghanistan before being dismissed in 2010 over a Rolling Stone article in which he criticized the administration’s top civilian leadership.
“I have regrets that some of the things I was responsible for, I didn’t finish,” he said on CBS’ “Face the Nation.” “I didn’t finish the job in Afghanistan. I let down a lot of people that worked for me, 150,000 troops worked for me, the Afghan people, many of them believed deeply in me.”
On current plans to draw down the United States’ presence in Afghanistan, McChrystal said he believes Afghanistan can be a stable country with the U.S. as a crucial ally.
“I believe Afghanistan can be stable. I think they must take responsibility for their security, the vast lion’s share, but I think the strategic partnership that President Obama offered to President Karzai is critical. Not just physically. It’s not how many troops and how much money, it’s the idea in the minds of Afghans that they have a reliable partner.”
