McChrystal ends service with regret and a laugh

General Stanley A McChrystal retired on Friday with the full pageantry of a 17-gun salute,an Army marching band and an emotional send-off from the Secretary of Defence....

General Stanley A McChrystal retired on Friday with the full pageantry of a 17-gun salute,an Army marching band and an emotional send-off from the Secretary of Defence,but with his own acknowledgment that he was not leaving the military on his own terms.

Look,this has the potential to be an awkward or even a sad occasion, he told 500 guests on the historic parade ground of Fort McNair,in his first public comments since he was fired by President Obama. He added,My service did not end as I would have wished.

But McChrystal,who was relieved of his command of US and NATO forces in Afghanistan last month after he and his aides were quoted in a Rolling Stone article making disparaging remarks about Vice-President Joseph R Biden Jr and other top civilian leaders,also took the occasion to joke about his circumstances.

I have stories on all of you,photos on many, he told his old friends in the crowd. Then he suggested that he had just the method for making those stories public,adding,And I know a Rolling Stone reporter. The crowd broke into laughter,then applause.

Defence Secretary Robert M Gates,who landed in Washington three hours before from a 19-hour flight from Jakarta made no mention in his send-off of the reasons for McChrystals retirement.

We bid farewell to Stan McChrystal today with pride and sadness, he said. Pride for the remarkable roster of achievement that he has compiled as a man and a soldier,sadness that our comrade and his prodigious talents are leaving us.

But by the time Gates finished,his voice seemed to catch as he said McChrystal was retiring with the gratitude of the nation he did so much to protect,with the reverence of the troops he led at every level,with his place secure as one of Americas great warriors.

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Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Adm Mike Mullen has described McChrystal and his wife,Annie,as crushed by the events of the past month.

Service in this business is tough and often dangerous, he said. It extracts a price for participants,and that price can be high. It is tempting to protect yourself from the personal and professional cost of loss by limiting how much you commit,how much you believe and trust in people,and how deeply you care.

He said: If I had it to do over again,Id do some things in my career differently,but not many. I believed in people and I still believe in them. I trusted and I still trust. I cared and I still care. I wouldnt have had it any other way8230; To the young leaders of today and tomorrow,its a great life.