Yesterday, I noted that General Peter Pace, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, was essentially being booted out. Since then, I learned that Vice Chairman Admiral Edmund Giambastiani will also get the boot.
They aren't actually getting fired: their two-year terms just aren't being renewed. Defense Secretary Robert Gates wanted both to stay, but it wasn't politically feasible.(The Hill). Officials from both parties expressed respect for Pace. England's The Guardian said the recent Pentagon "house cleaning" was:
"seen as an extraordinary retreat for an administration which had earlier prided itself on its resolve in pursuing policy matters, as well as loyalty to personnel. Mr. Gates told the press conference that conversations in recent weeks with both Republican and Democratic senators had convinced him that a confirmation process would have shone the spotlight on the prosecution of the war."
Due respect, Secretary Gates: the spotlight has been glaring down on the war since Americans figured out that there were no weapons of mass destruction, Iraq had nothing to do with 9/11, and the mission still isn't accomplished.
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