McChrystal's friends: He won't go into politics

“Honestly—the only thing I ever heard him say he wanted to do, after he completed his mission in Afghanistan… was eventually retire and open a bookstore,” wrote one officer, who is close to McChrystal, by email. The retirement conversations recounted by the officer, who spoke on condition of anonymity, took place earlier in McChrystal’s time in Afghanistan, before publication of the Rolling Stone story that portrayed the general and his aides as openly dismissive of civilian authority. The magazine story abruptly brought on McChrystal’s dismissal last week as the top general in Afghanistan…

Acquaintances are adamant that McChrystal isn’t likely to follow the partisan or political paths of some other high-profile military departees, such as Oliver North or Wesley Clark. Outed in the Rolling Stone piece as a Democrat and a 2008 Obama supporter, McChrystal won’t be out to settle scores against his old boss—or anyone else, they predict.

“I cannot imagine a scenario where he would be a pundit or write some sort of tell-all book or other sort of grand-standing,” says the officer close to McChrystal. “It’s simply not a part of his nature. Nor is it something I can imagine him ever being comfortable with.” The general, this officer says, is “one of the most humble men I’ve ever worked for.”