Toast to unity

TO LEADERSHIP. President Obama, announcing his decision to accept the resignation of McChrystal after the Rolling Stone article became public, finally stepped up to his commander-in-chief responsibilities and wartime leader duties. It’s been too long coming for someone who campaigned saying Afghanistan was the war we needed to win, yet nevertheless spent months deliberating on what to do in Afghanistan before deciding — and even then, hamstringing the strategy with a sop to the liberal wing of his party by promising to begin pulling out by July 2011. The McChrystal curveball forced Obama to demonstrate he has the mettle for the job. And his Rose Garden speech for once sounded like a man determined to put some grit into his smooth delivery. “Make no mistake: We have a clear goal. We are going to break the Taliban’s momentum.”