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RAMADI, Iraq, Dec. 19, 2007 – Driving through downtown Ramadi today is a strange experience for anyone who saw the city in 2006. Navy Adm. Michael G. Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, visited the city today and said he’s amazed at the differences from a year ago. There is construction in the streets of the city; school is out of session and children play on playgrounds, including riding on a makeshift Ferris wheel that would give a safety inspector fits. The firehouse stands full of trucks, and firefighters sit outside waiting for a summons. Iraqi police patrol...

President Bush met with his economic team today in the Oval Office. August 2007 marked the 49th consecutive month of job growth since 2003. “And that's the longest uninterrupted job growth on record for our country.” (Transcript) The president also took this opportunity to speak about terrorism and to defend US interrogation policy since some people, like Senator Jay Rockefeller (Democrat-W.Va.) and the good folks at the New York Times, apparently have nothing better to do than worry about terrorists’ rights. (Source) By the way, according to a recent FOX News poll, “1 in 5 Democrats thinks the world will...

The Iraqi government is failing and the U.S. must plan cautiously for a withdrawal, Navy Admiral Michael Mullen, President George W. Bush's nominee to be chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said today.

WASHINGTON, July 31 (UPI) -- U.S. Joint Chiefs chairman-nominee Adm. Michael Mullen told his confirmation hearing in Washington Tuesday he is increasingly perturbed about Iran. In testimony before the Senate Armed Services Committee, Mullen, who would replace Marine Gen. Peter Pace, warned strife in the Arab and Islamic worlds "bear directly on the safety of the United States." "I'm especially concerned about the increasingly hostile role played by Iran," Mullen said. "I support diplomatic efforts to counter Iran's destabilizing behavior and hope their leaders will choose to act responsibly, but I find their support for terrorism and their nuclear ambitions...

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President George W. Bush's nominee to be top military adviser said on Tuesday the United States will be in Iraq for "years not months" and a Pentagon official said the war was costing even more than expected. Navy Adm. Michael Mullen, picked as chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, warned U.S. lawmakers unhappy with the conflict against seeking a rapid pullout from Iraq, saying it could turn the country into a "caldron." While prudence dictated planning for an eventual pullout, Mullen said that under one scenario it could take three to four years just to halve...

Mike Mullen's Surprise Promotion By Tom Bowman CNO will carry a reputation as a pragmatist and problem-solver to the JCS Chairman’s office. When American Airlines Flight 77 slammed into the Pentagon on 11 September 2001, Admiral Mike Mullen was talking budgets with then-Chief of Naval Operations Admiral Vern Clark. Suddenly he felt something that reminded him of an earthquake in his native California. His office down the hall was closer to the impact. It quickly filled with smoke. His staff said the plane, slicing into the Pentagon some four floors below, appeared to roll under their feet. “It was a...

Pace’s not being renominated has nothing to do with his performance as chairman of the JCS. It has everything to do with what he symbolizes (American leadership while fighting a difficult war in Iraq) to the usual salivating suspects on Capitol Hill. And it was clear to Defense Secretary Robert Gates, and surely to President Bush, that Pace’s reconfirmation hearings would have been turned into a congressional circus: With poll-driven politicians focusing less on Pace’s performance and plans for the present and future prosecution of the war, and more on what has gone wrong in Iraq for the purposes of...

have no inside information, but I see the fingerprints of SASC member Sen. Hillary Clinton all over this. To win in 2008, the New York Democrat and feminist must convince voters that she supports the troops and can be trusted as Commander in Chief. A vote on the re-nomination of Chairman Pace would have put her on the spot between her gay activist constituency and millions of voters who admire Peter Pace.

WASHINGTON - Defense Secretary Robert Gates announced Friday he has recommended Adm. Mike Mullen, currently chief of naval operations, to become the next chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Gates said that Mullen has the "vision strategic insight and integrity to lead America's armed forces." If formally appointed by President Bush and confirmed by the Senate, Mullen would replace Marine Gen. Peter Pace as the nation's top military officer.