There are rules in the military. One is, if he outranks you, you do as you are told and you keep your pie hole shut.
Obama had no choice. One little show of weakness and the sharks would be all over him.

McLellan had political ambitions too but they went nowhere. MacArthur was blinded by the light he cast on himself. A real Prima Donna.His own political ambitions went south too. General Eisenhower once said that he had studied drama under MacArthur.

Anyway, we now have in my opinion a better General. And I say Obama did the right thing. This is not a banana republic.