This sounds like a really good guy to have on our side.

[Ducimus]

The decision to bypass Rodriguez for the top job reflects a determination among senior Pentagon officials that the war needs a commander who can make the case for the increasingly unpopular conflict to Congress, the news media and skeptics in the White House.

Sounds like he didn't play the game enough, or pissed someone off somehow. Generals are closer to politicians then any other rank.

There are three types of people in the military:
1.) Those who know their job REALLY well, but doesn't play the game for crap.
2.) Those who know how to play the game REALLY well, but not their job from a hole in the ground.
3.) The rare type that both knows their job and plays the game well.

I think most people fall into the first two types. The third type i list there is not very common.