Tuesday: McChrystal Apologizes for Comments; U.S. Expected to Sue Arizona

Updated 1:30pm ET

Defense Secretary Robert Gates has said that Gen. McChrystal made “a significant mistake” and used poor judgment in remarks to a magazine reporter.

Gates made the comments in a statement released by the Pentagon:

Gen. McChrystal has apologized to me and is similarly reaching out to others named in this article to apologize to them as well. I have recalled Gen. McChrystal to Washington to discuss this in person

You can read the full profile from Rolling Stone here.

Posted 9:45am ET
Gen. Stanley McChrystal, the top U.S. commander in Afghanistan, has been summoned to the White House to explain controversial comments about colleagues in a recent Rolling Stone interview, Obama administration officials said Tuesday.

In the profile, titled “The Runaway General,” McChrystal and some of his senior advisers are quoted criticizing top administration officials. An anonymous McChrystal aide reportedly called national security adviser James Jones a “clown,” who remains “stuck in 1985.”

McChrystal is described by an aide as “disappointed” in his first Oval Office meeting with President Obama. The article says that although McChrystal voted for the president, the two failed to connect from the start.

McChrystal issued a statement from Kabul on Tuesday, saying: “I extend my sincerest apology for this profile. It was a mistake reflecting poor judgment and should never have happened.”

Both Defense Secretary Robert Gates and Adm. Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, have spoken with McChrystal and expressed their disappointment, reports Politico.

Other officials mentioned in the profile with comments attributed to McChrystal or his aides include President Obama’s senior envoy to Afghanistan and Pakistan, Richard Holbrooke (“a wounded animal”); U.S. ambassador to Afghanistan Karl Eikenberry (“one that covers his flank for the history books”); and Vice President Joe Biden (“Did you say ‘Bite me?”.)

Vice President Biden initially opposed McChrystal’s proposal for additional forces last year, favoring a narrower focus on pursuing terrorists. The article claims McChrystal seized control of the war “by never taking his eye off the real enemy: The wimps in the White House.”

The article will hit newsstands Friday and might appear online as early as Tuesday night.

In other news about Afghanistan, congressional investigators have found that the U.S. military is indirectly paying millions of dollars to warlords, corrupt public officials and the Taliban to ensure safe passage of its supply convoys throughout the country.

Released late Monday, the report said the security arrangements, part of a $2.16 billion transport contract, violate laws governing private contractors, as well as Defense Department regulations, and “dramatically undermine” larger U.S. objectives in Afghanistan.

Report: Obama Administration to Sue Arizona

Attorney General Eric Holder is expected to file a lawsuit against the state of Arizona next week for its immigration law, reports ABC News.

Obama administration sources told ABC that Holder is expected to claim in his suit that the Arizona law will be enforced in a way that could cause discrimination based on race and nationality.

Oil Rig Owner Criticizes Ban on Drilling

The owner of the broken Deepwater Horizon rig criticized the government’s six-month ban on deepwater drilling in the area. Transocean president Steven Newman said there are things that the Obama administration “could implement today that would allow the industry to go back to work tomorrow without an arbitrary six-month time limit.”

A U.S. District Court judge will decide as early as noon Tuesday but no later than Wednesday whether to grant an injunction to stop U.S. Interior Secretary Ken Salazar’s moratorium.

The Washington Post describes how, in the long run, deepwater drilling is here to stay.

And in Foreign Policy, Steve LeVine lists how “petrocountries — those on which the world relies for its oil — are responding to the spill.” In short, they’re drilling.

Orszag Leaving as Budget Director

White House budget director Peter Orszag plans to leave government in July, becoming the first member of President Obama’s Cabinet to depart, administration officials said Monday night. Orszag had not planned to stay more than two years on the job.

Politico lists the likely replacements.

Haley Favored in South Carolina Runoff

Republican Nikki Haley, a conservative backed by the Tea Party movement, is the heavy favorite to win Tuesday’s runoff for her party’s nomination in South Carolina’s gubernatorial race, reports NPR.