Posted on 03/13/2008 11:30:13 AM PDT by JZelle
Current and former military officials welcomed the resignation of Navy Adm. William J. Fallon, the top U.S. military commander in the Middle East, saying he failed to prevent foreign fighters and munitions from entering Iraq.
They said "there was no misperception" regarding Adm. Fallon's "non-warrior" approach to handling foreign involvement in the region.
"The fact is that [Central Command] had the external responsibility to protect our troops in Iraq from the outside and under Fallon they failed to do it," said retired Maj. Gen. Paul Vallely, a military analyst. "We have done nothing to protect our soldiers from external threats in Iraq."
Others said Adm. Fallon was pushed to resign.
"No matter what [Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates] said [Tuesday], we know for a fact Admiral Fallon was fired," said a former senior Defense official who works closely with military officials in the region. "We have kids — soldiers — getting killed because Iran, Syria and other foreign fighters are coming across the border into Iraq, and yet Fallon was unwilling to do anything to hold [those nations] accountable."
Adm. Fallon announced his retirement Tuesday, saying he had no substantial disagreements with the White House on the Middle East but that the "disconnect between my views and the president's policy objectives" had become a distraction.
Mr. Gates, who accepted the admiral's resignation, said it was a "misperception" that the commander was at odds with White House policies on Iran.
"I don't believe there have ever been any differences about the objectives of our policy in the Central Command area of responsibility," Adm. Fallon said, and he regretted "the simple perception that there is."
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtontimes.com ...
Wanna bet in the weeks ahead this guy will come out and endorse B. Hussein?
A welcome counter to the bs spin by NPR, NY Times, and the BBC regarding Fallon.
Seems he is getting the same treatment as Wesley Clark got when he was finally a civilian.
People finally going public on what in the military has been common knowledge, the guy never should have held the post he did.
“The fact is that [Central Command] had the external responsibility to protect our troops in Iraq from the outside and under Fallon they failed to do it,” said retired Maj. Gen. Paul Vallely, a military analyst. “We have done nothing to protect our soldiers from external threats in Iraq.”
Sad. The same could be said of NorthCom for US citizens.
I can’t wait for the congressional hearings.
I am sure every Private or Airman that does not reenlist will cause a congressional hearing from these Democrat tools.
Yeah but Fallon wasn’t going to bomb Syria or Iran without civilian approval. I am not defending him overall but without a Presidential directive he cannot strike another country.
Isn’t it ironic that the closer you get to the actual fighting and dying, the higher percentage of conservative right wingers there are in the military? Probably not an accident.
Good riddance. Bush defied tradition to give this billet to the Navy and in return Fallon dropped a turd in his punchbowl.
It would appear that Fallon does not serve the best interests of his country. In other words, if this article is correct, he is a traitor to the country he swore to protect.
Agree or disagree with the commander in chief, any officer’s personal opinions do not super cede the president’s wishes.
It is a good thing Fallon has retired, but if he did not perform the duties of his office while in service, he should be severely penalized. IMHO.
Why not hold this weak warrior Fallon up for investigation if he was fired...that will keep him busy and may even get him busted on retirement pay!
“We have kids — soldiers — getting killed because Iran, Syria and other foreign fighters are coming across the border into Iraq, and yet Fallon was unwilling to do anything to hold [those nations] accountable.”
It is well known that Saudi Arabians make up a large percentage of our enemies in Iraq. We need to tell these countries (Iran, Syria, Saudi Arabia, and others) to stay out of Iraq and control their borders, and if they don’t we will bomb their capitals. It’s that simple. And a simple threat like that will work. And if they don’t, we bomb them. Either way, the problem is solved.
Bush under estimated how pissed off the Army brass would get.
Army generals were furious to have Petraeus reporting to a Navy guy. That's why they 'leaked' that phony story about Fallon calling Petreaus a chicken$hit to his face. They've been working day and night trying to get rid of Fallon.
OK, so this is new. What was Fallon supposed to have done to stop it?
The guy is a combat veteran of three conflicts. He's a fighter pilot with 40 years experience flying missions over places like Saigon and Bagdad. It will be interesting to see who *exactly* is behind the Esquire article and other stories that have severely undermined the White House and the Middle East effort. It wasn't Fallon.
If he was not fired, he certainly should have been. And how better to penalize him than revoking his retirement pay? But, sadly, it will never happen.
Bump
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