Thaindian News

Washington, Apr. 19 (ANI): The Pentagon has cleared a sacked US general of wrongdoing in connection with a magazine report that said his staff and he had spoken disrespectfully about top US officials.

According to the BBC, the Pentagon report found insufficient evidence against General Stanley McChrystal, who until June of last year, was the top US general in Afghanistan.

It said events narrated in the magazine had not occurred as written. Rolling Stone said it stood by its article.

Gen McChrystal was replaced as head of US and NATO forces in Afghanistan by General David Petraeus, saying Gen McChrystal had failed to “meet the standard that should be set by a commanding general” and that the article “undermines the civilian control of the military that’s at the core of our democratic system”.

Gen McChrystal later resigned from the Army.

In a document released on Monday, the Pentagon inspector general’s office said it had reviewed the magazine’s piece, entitled The Runaway General, in which Gen McChrystal or his staff are reported to have made derogatory remarks about Obama, Vice-President Joe Biden, diplomat Richard Holbrooke, Ambassador Karl Eikenberry and others.

Investigators interviewed witnesses who would have been in a position to corroborate the events narrated and reviewed e-mails and travel documents.

“The evidence was insufficient to substantiate a violation of applicable Department of Defense standards with respect to any of the incidents on which we focused,” wrote Michael Child, acting deputy inspector general for administrative investigators.

He added: “Not all of the events at issue occurred as reported in the article.” (ANI)