by D. Cupples | Admiral William Fallon, the head of Centcom, has been known to disagree with people. He reportedly called General Petraeus an "ass-kissing little chicken shit."
Fallon also openly disagreed with the Bush Administration's gung-ho attitude toward war with Iran. Apparently, President Bush doesn't like being disagreed with. The New York Times reports:
"Adm. William J. Fallon, the top American commander in the Middle East whose views on Iran and other issues have seemed to put him at odds with the Bush administration, is retiring early, the Pentagon said Tuesday afternoon."
"The retirement of Admiral Fallon, 63, who only a year ago became the first Navy man to be named the commander of the United States Central Command, was announced by his civilian boss, Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates, who said that he accepted the admiral’s request to retire 'with reluctance and regret.'
"President Bush said Admiral Fallon had served his country with 'honor, determination and commitment' and deserved 'considerable credit' for the progress in Afghanistan and Iraq.
"But despite the warm words from Mr. Bush and Mr. Gates, there was no question that the admiral’s premature departure stemmed from policy differences with the administration, and with Gen. David H. Petraeus, the American commander in Iraq....
"Admiral Fallon had rankled senior officials of the Bush administration with outspoken comments on such issues as dealing with Iran and on setting the pace of troop reductions from Iraq — even though his comments were well within the range of views expressed by Mr. Gates." (New York Times)
According to MSNBC, an Esquire Magazine article about Fallon has upset President Bush, at whose pleasure Fallon serves. You can see a concise but incredibly impressive bio of Fallon here. Memeorandum has other commentary.
Comments