[Peace-discuss] Fwd: [Iran01] Stephen Kinzer on the Fallon 'resignation'

[Karen Medina]

RE: Fallon / the administration / the media

I, perhaps like many AWARE members, wish Admiral William Fallon had stayed as head of Central Command and not retired early. If they had been forced to fire him, it would have been better than his resignation. (Or would it have been a dishonorable discharge? -- just curious)

But now maybe Fallon will join Iraq Veterans Against the War!

I dislike how the media was talking about this whole thing, even NPR. They did not look beyond the Iran idea (to find things like the pause) and the media came across as supporting the idea that Fallon was being insubordinate -- isn't it the head of Central Command's job to warn of the risks involved in all actions? 

Why did the media not question the administration's/Petraeus's foreign policy as well as Fallon's? 

What will happen if they move Petraeus to fill Fallon's position?
RadioFreeEurope says:
"There is now considerable speculation that Petraeus will be promoted to replace Fallon as commander-in-chief of Central Command, and replaced as commander in Iraq by Lieutenant General Ray Odierno, who directed the "surge" on the ground.
http://www.rferl.org/featuresarticle/2008/03/9114A568-2DAD-4FCF-B8BA-8022DFECF19B.html

-karen medina

---- Original message ----

>[From Josh Marshall <http://www.talkingpointsmemo.com/>. --CGE]
>
>Yesterday we reported at some length on the departure Adm. William Fallon, commander of Centcom. Then yesterday afternoon a reporter colleague told me that the real issue with Fallon wasn't Iran but something called "the pause."
>
>With 'surges' and 'pauses' and various other bits of jargon floating around, it's a little hard to keep track. But essentially the 'pause' refers to how long we're going to put off drawing down our forces in Iraq. Fallon wanted a short pause, this colleague told me, and Petraeus wanted a long or (I think more likely) an indefinite one. Now Fred Kaplan at Slate and David Ignatius in the Post bring reports confirming that this was indeed the key issue.
>
>So, not about Iran but Iraq -- and specifically whether we stay there indefinitely waiting on the El Dorado of political progress. Fallon wanted to start drawing down. His bosses disagreed. And now he's gone.