Outgoing Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Pace Refused to Voluntarily Retire

FOXNEWS.COM ^ | Friday, June 15, 2007 | Associated Press

[keats5]

In his first public comments on the Bush administration's surprise decision to replace him as chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Marine Gen. Peter Pace disclosed that he had turned down an offer to voluntarily retire rather than be forced out. To quit in wartime, he said, would be letting down the troops. Pace, responding to a question from the audience after he spoke at the Joint Forces Staff College in Norfolk, Va., on Thursday evening, said he first heard that his expected nomination for a second two-year term was in jeopardy in mid-May. Defense Secretary Robert Gates on June 8 announced Pace was being replaced. "One thing that was discussed was whether or not I should just voluntarily retire and take the issue off the table," Pace said, according to a transcript released Friday by his office at the Pentagon. "I said I could not do that for one very fundamental reason," which is that no soldier or Marine in Iraq should "think — ever — that his chairman, whoever that person is, could have stayed in the battle and voluntarily walked off the battlefield. "That is unacceptable as a leadership thing, in my mind," he added. Gen. Peter Pace: 'I've Been Told I'm Done'

[claudiustg]

Pace’s recent comments about gays couldn’t have anything to do with it, could they?

[ARE SOLE]

General Pace deserves our thanks. He has done more for his country than the man who didn’t have his back.

Regards

[K-oneTexas]

Agreed. Gen. Pace did nothing wrong and has acted in an exemplary and honorable manner representing the troops and the President. It is truly a shame that his superior, the President, does not respect him or treat him honorably.

[Bulldawg Fan]

The President stands by deaf and mute, only intrested in erasing our borders while this patriot is pummeled in Congress and the media.

Another huge strike against the legacy of GW and his failed presidency.

[353FMG]

I don’t think that Gen. Pace should be concerned with what this president thinks of him. He should be satisfied with the knowledge that his country thanks him for his honorable service.

[anglian]

I don’t know why he would have to gone through confirmation again anyway. Everyone knows the Rats would have torn him to peices.

[A.A. Cunningham]

For his retirement ceremony, Pace should extend an invitation to attend to Rumsfeld and specifically tell Bush and Gates that they are not welcome.

[glorgau]

His refusal to resign made his superior (Commander in Chief) actually have to declare his intentions. Clarity is a good thing.

[hoosierham]

If you don't believe you had done anything wrong,would you resign?

I was once advised by my attorney NOT to resign since that would eliminate any employer liabilities.

[org.whodat]

For his retirement ceremony,

After the retirement he should drop his trousers and give jorge the chance to kiss a real man ass.

[org.whodat]

Jumped the Gun, The game plan for the good general should be as follows, never leave the battle field:

1. File change of state of record to south Carolina before discharge.

2. Buy house in south Carolina and register to vote and etc.

3. Call press conference on retirement day and announce you are running for senator as an independent in South Carolina. Then proceed to kick goober-gremsbys butt

[af_vet_rr]

General Pace deserves our thanks. He has done more for his country than the man who didn’t have his back.

I'll admit I don't know much about him, other than he will probably be one of the last Vietnam vets to hold the position, but from what I've read, he sounds like an honorable man, and that he really cares about the military. I can easily see a man like him refusing to retire under false pretenses. It's unfortunate that he's basically being fired (if you want to look at it that way) but the way things are these days, if the politicians see you as a scapegoat and not an honorable man or woman serving your country, they are going to use you as a scapegoat.

[af_vet_rr]

I don’t know why he would have to gone through confirmation again anyway. Everyone knows the Rats would have torn him to peices.

He's been a Marine for forty years. Those types of Marines don't tend to back down, if they believe that what they are doing is right. To back down in such a situation would be cowardly. By all accounts, General Pace is not a coward.

[Taxman]

If I were General Pace, I’d move to Nevada on October 2, 2007, and announce that I was running for the US Senate seat held by that dishonorable sonofabitch dingy Harry Reid. And spend the next three years making his life miserable!

Semper Fi! General Pace. You have served us well. Thank you very much.

[no dems]

How about General Pace for someone’s Vice President?

[1COUNTER-MORTER-68]

A Vietnam veteran, Pace indicated in his Norfolk comments that his experience in that war colored his decision not to quit voluntarily.

“The other piece for me personally was that some 40 years ago I left some guys on the battlefield in Vietnam who lost their lives following 2nd Lt. Pace,” he said. “And I promised myself then that I will serve this country until I was no longer needed — that it’s not my decision. I need to be told that I’m done.

“I’ve been told I’m done.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
This Tells All...

[Gondring]

ping

[Lancey Howard]

Pace’s recent comments about gays couldn’t have anything to do with it, could they?

Knowing how cowardly and afraid of his shadow Bush has become, I'm sure those comments had something to do with it. But Bush's appointment of a liberal Admiral, Mike Mullen, to take Pace's place indicates another possibility - - that Bush is eager to help Hillary with the transition.

[Lancey Howard]

BUMP!

Semper fidelis,
LH