our guest served during the 2007 iraq war surge. he's the author of the book "counterinsurgency." also with us tonight, "time" magazine correspondent michael crowley. as a correspondent who's been in his fair share of war zones, how does a general with a stellar reputation and background like stanley mcchrystal blow himself up like this? >> well, it's a complete mystery. i hope that we learn a little bit more about setting the scene that led to this story because it's totally bewildering, particularly with a guy known publicly at least foremost for his discipline. for being this guy who eats one meal a day, sleeps four hours a night, runs like a maniac, makes no errors, trust the war effort to this guy, then he goes down in this bizarre car crash. >> talking to somebody from "rolling stone" magazine. >> wish i had an explanation. >> what does this mean pragmatically for afghanistan? petraeus is capable. but so is mcchrystal. do you expect petraeus will