Posted on 06/11/2007 4:49:40 PM PDT by Clintonfatigued
Joint Chiefs Chairman, General Peter Pace is being retired. Were this because of an outstanding career which spans forty years, there would be some honorable mention in a handful of news stories, a retirement ceremony, and a bow of thanks for a lifetime spent serving his country.
Sadly, Pace's departure is not such a scenario. No, Pace is being ungraciously sacrificed at the altar of capitulation to the anti-war movement. Given his service record, you would THINK this Administration would be a little quicker to stand by this Soldier's side, but President Bush seems more interested in standing by a struggling Attorney General, and a failed World Bank President, than to stand with the man who has been part and parcel to victories and major military successes in both Afghanistan and Iraq.
Pace, beginning one month after the attacks of 9/11, has served as either Vice Chairman or Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and has served with honor and distinction in these last 6 years of conflict - conflicts here at home with Congress and the Media, and conflicts overseas.Why, after such a military career does General Pace find no one at his flank, alone in an open field with no cover fire? Because the political expediency of his superiors is of greater concern than standing by a man who has served selflessly his country and his beloved Corps.
Sec Def Gates had this to say:
Gates said he had originally intended to seek another two-year term for Pace, but concluded that would have resulted in a divisive Senate confirmation focusing on the Iraq War. "It would be a backward looking and very contentious process," Gates said at a Pentagon news conference. [...]
(Excerpt) Read more at redstate.com ...
The Bush White House has really fallen out of the saddle, first on border security, and now this. It seems they can’t do anything right lately.
General Pace,
I think you have done a great job.
You will be missed.
Tell the leadership no $$$ and no campaign workers for anyone that defies the American people and who votes for this amnesty disgrace. It’s a black day in American history when the American people are pitted against the US Congress. Our founding fathers are turning in their graves at this outrage.
Bush has been a major disappointment for me lately - never have I done such an about-turn. I sure would like to know what happened - what caused him to forsake the conservatives that have been so loyal to him.
Makes me want to puke.
Correction, gives me just one more thing to want to puke about!
Because on most conservative issues, he has never been a conservative. Can you spell the word U S E D?
Sorry, prior post was for a different thread.
I can no longer defend President Bush to anyone. I’ve been a Republican for over 35 years and these errors in judgment on his part are the final straw for me. I’m disgusted beyond words that can be printed publicly on FR
If the WH backed down merely because of a “contentious” fight then I too will be appalled and disgusted. However, I suspect that shameless ‘RATs like the execrable Carl Levin had made it clear that not only would they mercilessly slime General Pace and the admin. over gay issues plus the Iraq war, but they would never allow his re-nomination to move forward. Remember that Levin and others could easily bottle the nominee up in committee and never even let the process get to the Senate floor if they choose to do so. OR, they would have certain defeat of the nominee if they could hold to a party line vote on the floor....
It would be terrible if the WH merely backed away from the fight for a great and honorable Marine, but if they had reason to be sure that the nomination was doomed anyway (and with Levin and friends around it may well have been) then it would have been not merely a bruising, losing battle but truly a diversion from moving forward with winning the war. I hate that the ‘RATs have brought our nation to this state of affairs, but that’s what they are.
He is following the exact path, step for step, that his father tread during the last two years of his term. It’s like they just lose interest in the job and start looking forward to getting out of Dodge.
I sure can. We need to do some big-time housecleaning. I’m tired of globalist/elitist/country club Republicans taking over my party.
Conservatives - stop voting for liberals!
My response would get me banned....
That is funny you say that - I remember when George Bush senior was running for his second term - many times I told my husband that he was acting like he had lost interest in the job & didn't really want to win re-election.
You are exactly right.
What the article was saying is that it is pathetic that Bush is willing to fight to the death over Gonzalez and Shamnesty, and not an American Hero.
Which, as far as I’m concerned, is true.
Why? Because our government, including the man sitting in the White House, have sold America and the American people down the river for promises of a Global Utopia, governed by the GLoba Elite. Bush is a disgrace, and I rue the day I ever voted for the little (fill in the blank).
Yeah yeah, I know, I probably sound like a loon from DU, but that's how I feel about the whole mess. General Pace has more honor and integrity in his little finger than all of the degenerates haunting the halls of Congress, the State Department, and all other government agencies combined
I guess his interest in the Iraqi war is waning and he want to focus his efforts on that disastrous immigration bill.
bttt
We are in deep shit.
Realistically I don’t know what can be done about it.
They say elect Republicans so President Bush can appoint Conservative Judges.
Well, myself and a good number elected republicns.
What happened?John McCain and some more Republicans made a deal to screw us. We did get a few judges but not near as many as we could have had.
The theme of the ‘06 election was punish the Republican Party. The only thing wrong with that is that the Republican Party is completely content to kiss the Democrats asses and be their whipping boy when the need arises. They were never happy with being the majority party.
The Republicans allowed the Democrats to get Rummy , General Pace and others before them. The next generation will be the Wesley Clark types.
I do know that if they pass the “Immigration reform bill” within 10 years at the most , the United states will be just one more of the banana republics and as Balkanized as any Balkan State.If we are to survive as a nation, this bill must be stopped.
Conservatives - stop voting for liberals!
Exactly, General Pace is one more casualty in the ongoing “Culture War” my guess is that he would have opposed the coming change in “Don’t ask, don’t tell” so Fredo/Bush clipped Pace to clear the decks.
I may have to repeat this alot, but if you are a Conservative, you are now an Orphan, Bush and the Senate has thrown us overboard.
The Admiral was also a Rumsfeld choice. Again Gates is in charge. The wheel has turned and someone else is at the rudder. Blame Bush for Gates not the Democrats.
We must learn how to fight these terrorists and win, and it would be best to do it where the American people and property won’t be killed and destroyed.
Unlike some I don’t think Pace leaving is such a bad thing. In war you have to be flexible, because your initial war plans never survive contact with the enemy. But, for to long we fought this war in Iraq the same way and kept getting the same results, because the powers that be got married to a strategic plan that wasn’t working, and they refused to admit it. When this happens, it is most efficient to get rid of the officers in charge, and give someone else a chance who isn’t blinded by past and can see opportunities the others have been missing.
We are now fighting an unconventional war against guerrilla fighters. It is well known that for guerrilla fighters to thrive they must have 3 things:
1. They must have the support of the local populace. This provides them with cover among the locals, intelligence information collected by the locals, and domestic supplies like food, clothing, and shelter.
2. They must have funding for military supplies and a source for those supplies.
3. And finally, they must have a safe area where they can rest, train, and reconstitute their forces.
If any one of these three support legs can be removed, the guerrilla will become ineffective. And yet our forces have been focused on only the 1st of these three legs, attempting to win the hearts and minds of the Iraqi people, arguably the most difficult of the three to accomplish.
I would like to see the focus shift to the other two legs, which are basically being ignored. So what this war needs is new leadership, and fresh new strategic directions.
And the last time I checked, it was still Bush himself who remains our nation's Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces, so he is actually in charge. Period.
“Republics are created by the virtue, public spirit, and intelligence of the citizens. They fall, when the wise are banished from the public councils, because they dare to be honest, and the profligate are rewarded, because they flatter the people, in order to betray them.” —Joseph Story
I don’t know where we could go. About the only nations I respect anymore are Japan and a couple others, and they aren’t going to let any Americans in. Even if they did, they’re a little too close to China for my own comfort.
Yup, we’re screwed.
its too bad. General pace was a good leader and military officer. DoD did not want to stick up for him, lack of leadership among the civilian leadership. What a shame.
Time to retire Bush.
"The Dems on the SASC made it clear through the back channels that they would create all sorts of problems for Pace if he was renominated".
Nah. What you are saying is that the Dems on the SASC are in charge.
They are. And the proof is that Mullen, not Giambastiani or Pace will be our CJC. If Bush wanted Pace to continue he could have rolled up his sleeves and fought for him like he's doing for that incompetent buffoon Gonzales. The Pubbies in the Senate would have gladly fought with Bush for the renomination of Pace or even the nomination of Giambastiani but nooooooo.... the Decider just decided to capitulate.
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