afghanistan. we are coming to talk to general mccaffrey. general mccaffrey was making a point he was surprised, colonel, by the tone of the comments. that incivility. is that part of what the president is deciding here, is this just something that s at the very least indiscreet? and very unfortunate? or is this insubordination? well, it is i would i would fire general mcchrystal, to be honest with you. it indicates a disdain not necessarily for the president of the united states because that s irrelevant. but important the chain of command. for civilian control. there problems within the administration. you could look at it as as something of the anarchy in many respects. you have the secretary of state pursuing a policy, national security adviser trying to get his toe in the door. military establishment which is the default on the i default
you read the tea leaves it would suggest that the president already made his decision not to send mcchrystal back to afghanistan. that s only speculation. we are not saying that happened. but, you know, if if he is participating in the meeting, that would suggest otherwise. but, again, it is all speculation at this point. and andrea, i believe meeting by video conference, special envoy, holbrook, not so nice things said about in the rolling stone article. if what i m read sing true he has been in touch with the pakistani folks that don t want general mcchrystal to leave. karzai said clearly yesterday and had video conference, i understand, with the president that he wants mcchrystal to stay. of course, hamid karzai, president karzai, has been supporting mcchrystal. mcchrystal is his link to the administration because karzai at times was not even on speaking terms with ambassador holbrook or ambassador eikenberry.
conclusion of the meeting on his decision of general mcchrystal. one thing, he went into that meeting we were told time and time again the president had not made up his mind. we still don t know if he made up his mind. mik, let me go to you. had a brief chance to talk to general mcchrystal. he came and went from the pentagon and what can you tell us at this point in time? general mcchrystal arrived here at the pentagon 8:00 this morning. just seconds actually before a scheduled meeting with secretary of defense robert gates. and the chairman of the joint chiefs of staff, admiral mike mullen. i just happened to be on the steps and he came up the steps and, you know, greeted each other and then i asked him if he had already submitted his resignation. and because there had been reports to that effect and he didn t hesitate and said come on, you know better than that. no. and then i said, will you and by this time he was gone and up the stairs to that meeting. so it didn t appear at