In the wake of President Obama's dismissal of General Stanley McChrystal, Maine 1st District Congresswoman Chellie Pingree, a member of the House Armed Services Committee, says she's glad the controversy and distraction over comments by the general and his staff in Rolling Stone magazine can now be "put behind us."
But Pingree says the problems in Afghanistan extend beyond the flap over the article. "The magazine article only served to further illustrate what has been clear--that the strategy in Afghanistan isn't working, it's not making us any safer and the cost in American lives and taxpayers' money just isn't worth it."
"Now that General McChrystal has resigned, we don't just need a new commander in Afghanistan, we need a new strategy that ends U.S. military involvement in the country," Pingree says in a statement.
Obama announced this morning that McChrystal's role in Afghanistan will be assumed by Gen. David Petraeus.
Sen. Susan Collins, a member of the Senate Armed Service Committee, says McChrystal deserves gratitude for his service to the country, but she says "in light of the General's inappropriate comments" she understands Obama's decision to accept his resignation.
"I am pleased that the President has acted immediately to nominate General Petraeus to take command of the war in Afghanistan and I have great confidence in his ability and leadership," Collins says in a statement.
Sen. Olympia Snowe, a senior member of the U.S. Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, acknowledged that the decision was a difficult one for Obama. In a statement, Snowe says Obama "was right to predicate his analysis on what is in our best national interests and those of our brave troops on the ground, and I trust that he arrived at his decision on that basis."
Snowe says she's also pleased that the president nominated General Petraeus to assume McChrystal's role in the region "to sustain unity and continuity of command."