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Ear to the Ground

Top Commander for Mideast Resigns

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Posted on Mar 12, 2008

Adm. William Fallon, head of the U.S. Central Command, resigned on Tuesday, explaining that his reputation as an obstacle to President Bush’s military designs had become too much of a distraction. Fallon was often reported to be a thorn in the side of the president and his other military advisers, a role both the admiral and administration officials strongly deny.


Los Angeles Times:

WASHINGTON—The Pentagon on Tuesday announced the abrupt resignation of the commander overseeing the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan who was seen as an internal critic of the Bush administration’s troop decisions in Iraq.

The resignation of Navy Adm. William J. Fallon, head of U.S. Central Command, comes at a crucial time—a month before highly anticipated recommendations for the future of U.S. involvement in Iraq—and amid a debate among top military commanders over American deployments in the region.

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By JMCSwan, June 14, 2008 at 2:04 pm #

Coincidence:

Admiral Fallon resigned on the one year anniversary of the release of BBC’s Allan Johnstone, from Hamas surrogates as their hostage (if I recall correctly).

Did Admiral Fallon feel himself hostage, to politicians Middle East policies, and resign to set himself free?

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By Douglas Chalmers, March 13, 2008 at 2:04 am #

Try that link again…...
http://www.abc.net.au/lateline/content/2007/s2187958.htm

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By Douglas Chalmers, March 13, 2008 at 2:01 am #

Interesting video of interview with Harlan Ullman by the Australian national TV channel, ABC on the resignation of Admiral Fallon and regarding Iraq and China. I don’t agree with all of his comments on Pakistan but what he has to say is interesting and there is also a transcript with the video link on this page…...http://www.abc.net.au/lateline/content/2007/s 2187958.htm

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By Hammo, March 12, 2008 at 7:43 pm #

Adm. William Fallon’s forced “retirement” is an ominous development.

It is obvious to many inside and outside our defense establishment that it could mean that the Bush-Cheney administration plans to attack Iran.

Fallon was a major obstacle to this course of action.

Food for thought in the articles:

“Will Bush, Cheney attack Iran? When and why?”

PopulistAmerica.com
Populist Party of America
Feb. 2, 2007

http://www.populistamerica.com/will_bush_cheney_attack _iran_when_and_why

- - -

“Military Draft Needed for War With Iran and Syria?”

PopulistAmerica.com
Populist Party of America
Sept. 28, 2006

http://www.populistamerica.com/military_draft_needed_f or_war_with_iran_and_syria

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By weather, March 12, 2008 at 6:54 pm #
(Unregistered commenter)

to take on the task as Secty of Defense for Obama.

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By sophrosyne, March 12, 2008 at 6:38 pm #
(Unregistered commenter)

Fallon is a model of what our honest commanders should be doing.  Bush is udner pressure from Big Armament corporations, Israel and Big Oil to bomb I.  He will not avoid doing what is good for these interests and ignore American interests.  It is what he is.  What he does.  And he has several months to go.

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By Tom Murphy, March 12, 2008 at 4:32 pm #
(Unregistered commenter)

See video: Why Fallon’s Resignation is Frightening Defense Secretary Robert Gates did not have to accept Admiral Fallon’s resignation. “The military people think basically that Admiral Fallon was PUSHED OUT” - Mark Thompson Time Magazine National Security Correspondent
Fallon is described as “the one person in the military or Pentagon standing between the White House and war with Iran.”

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By Douglas Chalmers, March 12, 2008 at 3:40 pm #

Demise of a man who spoke his mind - “...navy admiral knows when it’s time to ‘walk the plank’.  Perhaps some politicians could learn a lesson…” http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/7291140.stm

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By ElkoJohn, March 12, 2008 at 3:29 pm #

To my knowledge, Admiral Fallon is the first officer
to resign in protest of the Bush war policies.

The others waited until they retired
before they publicly opposed the Bush war strategy.

Admiral Fallon is to be commended for his action.
Hopefully, others will follow.

Our military has been devastated
by multiple, 15-month combat tours.

If we really, REALLY want to fight
our foreign wars against the Muslims
for the next 100-years,
we need military conscription & taxes
in order to have enough troops & equipment.

Or, we need to re-think our strategy to deal
with the global Muslim insurrection:
“There is no way to peace, peace is the way” A.J.Muste
“Love your enemies” Jesus

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By Leefeller, March 12, 2008 at 12:55 pm #

Well this gives cause to why experience should amount to nothing.

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By Douglas Chalmers, March 12, 2008 at 8:32 am #

Interesting timing - and especially so since this article was just published in Kuwait, an avowed US ally since the invasion by Saddam:-

‘Israeli attack on Iran, good idea’ - Sun, 09 Mar 2008: “Senior Kuwaiti strategist Sami al-Faraj says an Israeli military strike on the Islamic Republic’s nuclear facilities is not a bad idea….  Iran’s nuclear program has become a major concern for all Persian Gulf littoral states and therefore an Israeli attack may be an appropriate solution.

...burying the military nuclear Iranian project is in the interest of PGCC states, said al-Faraj, who heads the independent Kuwait Center for Strategy Studies. He added that it would be ‘less embarrassing’ if Israel cripples Iran’s nuclear program rather than the US…... stopping Iran’s tendency for hegemony over the area, he said. http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=46690&section id=351020104

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By cyrena, March 12, 2008 at 8:31 am #

Yeah, we do understand I think.

I admit I was a tad bit leery at the time that Fallon was selected by the Bushies to replace the former guy that they either fired or promoted. (somebody will remember his name, or I can look for it later.)

The switch over happened around the same time that Gates took over for Rumsfeld, and we know that there’s no difference between them. So, I wasn’t sure if this was just another political appointment/choice for the thugs to get somebody to do what they had been planning all along, which was to attack Iran.  AND…Cheney was pissed because they were already behind schedule, after getting bogged down in Iraq.

So, I admit I was leery, and it didn’t help when Fallon went to Iraq on the heels of Cheney, Condi, Gates, (and I don’t remember who else) to push the Iraq Oil Draft Law, because Cheney was REALLY in a snit about that. (the Iraqis were refusing to sign over their oil). And, it was also right after the ‘surge’ had been announced, and just after we discovered that 3 ADDITIONAL war ships had been dispatched to the Humotz Straight, to join 6 other warships already in the Persian Gulf. So MUCH was going on then, and of course so much of it all is secret anyway, that the facts are hard to sort out. Just makes everybody paranoid after 6 years of this shit.

But, Fallon turned out to be the real deal, and there’s no doubt that the Dick Bush Whitehouse didn’t expect that.

So yeah, he’s been the only one standing in the way of Cheney bombing the crap out of Iran, (because they didn’t think they’d need that many boots on the ground, since they were just gonna blast away at them from the air with nuclear bunker busters) and that’s why they’ve dumped him. (Fallon)

Happens to anybody who doesn’t do what Cheney wants. Thank God they didn’t ‘suicide’ him. Because, if he can stay safe enough for the next 10 months, I think Obama is gonna need him. I mean, we DO need military commanders and generals and all of the other things that make a military.

We DO need a military. It’s just that we need them to operate in terms of DEFENSE and not as OFFENSE.

As of now, we are losing our military, the troops, and not replacing them.

Here’s more on that..

Defense Official Says Recruitment Declining
  Stars and Stripes

  Saturday 08 March 2008

  A senior Defense official says U.S. military recruitment is declining despite studies suggesting the armed forces are more diverse and educated than ever, The Washington Times reported Friday.

  David Chu, undersecretary of Defense for personnel and readiness, and other military and data analysts discussed the issue Thursday at the Heritage Foundation, the Times reported.

  The longevity of the Iraq war, a negative view of military life and rising obesity rates nationwide were cited as principal reasons for the decline, the Times noted.

(I’m guessing those aren’t the ONLY reasons, but then..I don’t much trust Chu or the Heritage Foundation).

http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/030808G.shtml

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By Expat, March 12, 2008 at 7:01 am #

^ destroy this as well: He’s nearly there.

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By Expat, March 12, 2008 at 7:00 am #

^ a still extant value system barely alive in our country.  Kept alive by our older generation who still know what’s valuable and worth standing for.  And it’s our military leaders; how laudable indeed!

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By Expat, March 12, 2008 at 6:54 am #

^ wisdom and experience of our senior military commanders and not our impotent elected officials or we the citizens; that has kept GW from bombing the crap out of Iran?

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By Expat, March 12, 2008 at 6:48 am #

^ Now what?  I fear to imagine.

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By Expat, March 12, 2008 at 6:44 am #

^ he answered a question about going to war against Iran: “Not on my watch!”

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