“General Stanley McChrystal was the right man for Afghanistan.”
True, but it’s hard to argue Petraeus is the wrong man. The reality is, both were equally adept at the military side of COIN, but Petraeus also knows how to play the political game in a way that McChrystal never could (or would).
Remember that McChrystal got taken to the woodshed already last fall about shooting off his mouth. I think he just didn’t give a damn—especially when saddled with conditions (a politically-established withdrawal deadline) that worked against the success of what he was trying to do. He apparently didn’t beg for his job, which tells me he’s perfectly happy being relieved of commanding a no-win situation.
It will be interesting to see whether Petraeus can convince Obama to abandon the deadline. With his plummeting approval ratings, Obama may be quite desperate next summer and hence very open to arguments that sticking to his artificial deadline would turn the public against him even more.