Sign of Defeat

11 June 2007



General Pace Dropped as Chairman of Joint Chiefs

When a team is losing, the owner doesn’t get blamed because it’s never his fault. Instead, the manager gets fired, a scapegoat to assure the fans that the future will be different. So, when a war is being lost, the president doesn’t take the blame, the generals do. The president’s surprise decision (the Defense Secretary doesn’t do this kind of thing on his own) late Friday afternoon not to re-nominate Marine General Peter Pace for a customary second two-year term as Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff is a sign that the White House realizes the war in Iraq-Nam and the current strategy for fighting it are disasters.

In denying General Pace the usual third and fourth years, Secretary of Defense Robert Gates said, “I think that the events of the last several months have simply created an environment in which I think there would be a confirmation process that would not be in the best interests of the country. I wish it were not necessary to make a decision like this. But I think it’s a realistic appraisal of where we are.” He added that the confirmation process the general would face would be “backward-looking and very contentious” and based this assessment on advice he had received from senators on both sides of the aisle.

Senator Carl Levin (D-MI), who is Chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, confirmed this view. “I found that the views of many senators reflected my own,” he told the press. He added that the re-confirmation hearing would have focused on the last four years of the war, with special consideration on the last two during which time General Pace was top warrior in America. So, the general will retire when his term ends on September 30.

Taking over, presuming he is confirmed, will be Admiral Mike Mullen, currently chief of naval operations. General James E. Cartwright, currently the commander of the Strategic Command, will be vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. As a naval man, Admiral Mullin bears little responsibility for the land war in Iraq-Nam. And in his current position, he is certainly qualified to take the chairmanship. However, the Democrats control the Senate now. Senate boss Harry Reid (D-NV) said the chamber “will be looking very closely at Admiral Mullen and General Cartwright’ s views to make sure they are committed to changing course in Iraq. Both men must be advocates for our troops, not for a failed policy.”

Firing the team manager usually buys the owner a few months of peace and quiet while he argues to let the new guy get control of things. These new guys come into office in October, right after the September review by General Petreaus, the man actually fighting the Iraq-Namese war today. The conditions for a proper withdrawal will be ripe, and the only question is whether the owner of this war (Mr. Bush) wants it to end. Evidence thus far suggests that it doesn’t matter who the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff is. The administration just wants to run out the clock so that Mr. Bush’s successor gets labeled “the guy who lost Iraq-Nam.”

© Copyright 2007 by The Kensington Review, Jeff Myhre, PhD, Editor. No part of this publication may be reproduced without written consent. Produced using Fedora Linux.


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