Is Petraeus ‘The Man Most Responsible’ For Adm. Fallon’s Resignation?
Is Petraeus ‘The Man Most Responsible’ For Adm. Fallon’s Resignation?
When Secretary of Defense Robert Gates announced CentCom commander Adm. William Fallon’s resignation on Tuesday, he told the press that it was “a cumulative kind of thing,” not “any one issue” that led Fallon to leave his post. According to the New York Times’s Thom Shanker, “premature departure” at least partially “stemmed” from policy disagreements with Gen. David Petraeus, “a favorite of the White House“:
But there was no question that the admiral’s premature departure stemmed from what were perceived to be policy differences with the administration on Iran and Iraq, where his views competed with those of Gen. David H. Petraeus, the American commander in Iraq, who is a favorite of the White House.
Writing on the Washington Post’s website today, former intelligence analyst William Arkin posits that Petraeus is “the man most responsible for the departure of Fallon” because “the two were at odds on virtually every element of Iraq policy”:
Yesterday, I was hearing from Pentagon officials, high-ranking military officers and close observers of the building that the two were at odds on virtually every element of Iraq policy, which of course put Fallon on a collision course with the White House. In other words, Iran was the excuse but Iraq was the reason.
Arkin says Fallon believed “that the surge should [be] brought to a quick and successful conclusion.” But Petraeus had the White House, and “Fallon, despite his command and authority to set priorities and decide on what resources are needed, was frozen out.”
Most recently, the two top commanders disputed the length and purpose of the upcoming “pause” in troop withdrawals from Iraq this summer. Fallon thought it should be “temporary and brief” while Petraeus wants “to wait until as late as September to decide when to bring home more troops.”
Slate’s Fred Kaplan writes that Petraeus and Fallon “dislike each other and that their disagreements have been tense, sometimes fierce.” From this, he surmises that “Fallon’s departure” is a “signal that Petraeus has won that contest.”
UPDATE: For more on Fallon’s resignation, check out today’s Progress Report here.
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Wasn’t Petraeus UNDER his command? Isn’t that called backstabbing, or mutiny? Isubordination at the very least.
March 13th, 2008 at 3:33 pmAnd look at the photo of the generals laughing their asses off at the pathetic attempt of the chympident to muster a decent salute.
If he hadn’t gone AWOL he might have actually learned how salute the proper way.
March 13th, 2008 at 3:34 pmHeck no. General Dave is way too busy bribing militia leaders to make it look like he’s accomplished something over there.
March 13th, 2008 at 3:35 pmDoes it matter whether it was Betrayus or the Bush Moron?
March 13th, 2008 at 3:38 pmPerhaps Fallon retired because he wanted to get a good night’s sleep. Unlike Betrayus and the other neoCONs, Fallon appears to have a conscience. I imagine that conscience gave him many sleepless nights.
March 13th, 2008 at 3:43 pmWhat was that Fallon called Betrayus?
“an ass-kissing little chickenshit.”
wasn’t it?
March 13th, 2008 at 3:53 pmThe only thing Bush can do right in my eyes is leave.
March 13th, 2008 at 3:58 pmAt least Petraeus does what a soldier is supposed to do. Obey his friggin’ commander-in-chief without questioning the orders in pubic.
Comment by Frank M
They must not be patriots huh frank. That must explain why so many of them are putting thier carrees on the line to speak truth to power…..they must be commies……we must have been infiltrated huh……traitors right frank?
March 13th, 2008 at 3:59 pmone real question! Is there anything that Bush as done right in any pro’s eye’s?
Comment by Thecairngman
I liked it when he choked on that pretzel.
March 13th, 2008 at 4:00 pmIs there anyone beside those doofusses in the White House that DO agree with General Betrayus?
March 13th, 2008 at 4:01 pmObey his friggin’ commander-in-chief without questioning the orders in pubic.
Um, the chain of command is in force here. Petraeus reported to Fallon, not to the CINC.
March 13th, 2008 at 4:03 pmWere you ever in the military Francine?
The war is the greatest blunder in U.S. history period. What kind of idiot wouldn’t question the Commander in Chief? Names anyone?
March 13th, 2008 at 4:04 pmfrankie; STFU! Go in front of a mirror to quote from your Bible-Mein Kampf.
March 13th, 2008 at 4:04 pmUnited Sycophants Administration.
March 13th, 2008 at 4:05 pmI liked it when he choked on that pretzel.
Comment by Fred — March 13, 2008 @ 4:00 pm
That pretzel was with Al-Queda!!!!!
March 13th, 2008 at 4:05 pmone real question! Is there anything that Bush as done right in any pro’s eye’s?
Comment by Thecairngman
Depends on who you mean by “pro’s”. If you mean “progressives” then the answer is no.
If you mean “professional” bushit lickers, you’d have to ask them.
March 13th, 2008 at 4:06 pmRU; the ONLY uniform Frankie wears and believes in, is his storm-trooper get-up. Complete with brownshirt, swastika, and jackboots.
March 13th, 2008 at 4:07 pmTo answer the post’s title question…. NO!
Fallon was caught in a “squeeze play” between the WhiteHouse and its apparatchiks like Petraeus. General P is an excuse, the orders come from the top (meaning Cheney/Kagan and the entrenched neocon camp).
Fallon tried, and facing insurmountable odds has exited according to his conscience—unlike Colin Powell who, at least given the option to STFU instead placed himself front and center as the most credible cheerleader of the Bush/neocon fantasy on a national stage.
March 13th, 2008 at 4:09 pmNo Unc, it is a storm trooper outfit alright, the kind that people ware at those funny conventions where none of the men there have ever been laid.
March 13th, 2008 at 4:09 pmOsama Gin; Never fired a general?
See: General Douglas MacArthur- wearing the imprint of President Harry Truman’s shoe.
March 13th, 2008 at 4:13 pmBoy, that was a lame attempt at humor, Usama Gin Rodham…
March 13th, 2008 at 4:13 pm#9 – No – not at any time in his overprivileged excuse for a life.
Frank – It is not the job of any General to preside over a program of bribery and corruption while claiming to be “fighting” a “war”
March 13th, 2008 at 4:14 pmPetraeus is a politician–Fallon is not and that makes a big difference. I have respect for Fallon for leaving, and I’m dead certain he was pushed.
At this point, I have so much contempt for this administration and the congress that stories like this only make me more disgusted. I know one thing for certain, I want my country back!!!
These clowns in DC have no idea how angry people are back home and how people who you would least expect are now struggling desperately to hang on to their homes, heat their homes, feed themselves and put gasoline in their cars.
I think there are going to be a lot of changes in the next congress and it will come none to soon to suit me.
March 13th, 2008 at 4:15 pmWhen the chain of command is circumvented there will be a collapse. The higher up the break, the more damaging to the military.
A subordinate was walking around his superior. the ranking officer saw this display as contempt while understanding the white house encouraged it.
Adm. Fallon saw he will not be able to apply proper command over his subordinates with this disprect happening and he removed himself.
March 13th, 2008 at 4:15 pmComment by Frank M
Hmmm, that sound curiously familiar….
I think it was Stalin who said it …
March 13th, 2008 at 4:25 pm“This is unprecedented! Never in the history of this country has a General ever been fired. Now can we IMPEACH bush for this obviously illegal action?”
Comment by Rodham Gin — March 13, 2008 @ 4:10 pm
Utter bollocks, Rodham Gin, bone-up or at least think before you comment.
March 13th, 2008 at 4:26 pmOMFG!!! Frankie just confessed to really being a fascist pig-in his own words @ 4:22. You heard it here first, folks.
March 13th, 2008 at 4:26 pmFrank M., you have a different opinion of the direction of this company and I’ll respectfully disagree with you but for your to slander an Admiral of the USN without so much as one stitch of evidence I will talk you down until you have to reach up to scratch the ass of an asp.
Do I make myself clear Mr.?
Adm. Fallon has not weakend or destroyed our military or our moral fiber and there has been nothing shown from the latest events that would begin to supply your ignorance with evidence.
Either you prove your pitiful point or stand down on that Mr.
March 13th, 2008 at 4:27 pmas all our leaders will ask in return is obedience.
Comment by Frank M — March 13, 2008 @ 4:22 pm
Wow. Just wow. Are you a dog?
March 13th, 2008 at 4:27 pmSome gin guzzler thinks history will be rewritten from 2001 until now.
Keep drinking.
March 13th, 2008 at 4:30 pm“Laugh all you want. We’ll see if you still find it amusing when you liberals have managed to derail the war on terror, weaken our military with officers like Fallon and destroyed our national moral fiber with abortion, drugs and sex.
More and more people will grow tired of all the ensuing crime, unrest and terrorism at home and demand more order at any cost. We will be ready to provide it. You may call us stormtroopers and nazis, but the general population will be grateful as all our leaders will ask in return is obedience.”
Frank M
Does this sound like High Chancellor Sutler from V for Vendetta to anyone else or is it just me? It’s almost like Franky boy is yelling at us from a giant screen in his mind “I WANT EVERYONE TO REMEMBER WHY THEY NEED US!!!
March 13th, 2008 at 4:35 pmHmm,
Is the Admiral any relation to Jimmy Fallon, formerly of SNL?
That aside, I’ve seen some pretty dumb trolls in the last few years, but it seems TP is a magnet for the retarded, dysfunctional ones.
TP Trolls – ‘we put the fun back in dysfunctional’
March 13th, 2008 at 4:35 pm“destroyed our national moral fiber with abortion, drugs and sex. ”
Glad to see that Frank at least admits that liberals have a monopoly on the fun parts of life…
March 13th, 2008 at 4:36 pmwithout questioning the orders in pubic.
March 13th, 2008 at 4:37 pmPUBIC… What kind of orders do you get in your PUBIC AREA francine???
Not only are you a traitor,but also dumb as a box of rocks!
one real question! Is there anything that Bush as done right in any pro’s eye’s? Policy wise?
Comment by Thecairngman — March 13, 2008 @ 3:56 pm
He’s pushed for a change in the U.S. food aid system to allow local purchases of commodities, instead of shipping corn and wheat stocks from the U.S. I fully agree with this idea, but the agribusiness lobby won’t hear of it.
That’s about the only thing Bush and I agree on.
March 13th, 2008 at 4:39 pmBy the way Frank, you were responding to the thinly veiled and failed excuse for humor of one of your own people…fascist goosestepping authoritarian personalities.
March 13th, 2008 at 4:40 pm…destroyed our national moral fiber with abortion, drugs and sex.
More and more people will grow tired of all the ensuing crime, unrest and terrorism at home and demand more order at any cost.
Comment by Frank M — March 13, 2008 @ 4:22 pm
Funny thing – legalized abortion actually correlates with lower crime rates. It seems that when people have the option to abort unwanted children, fewer children grow up in dysfunctional living situations that lead to criminal activity in adulthood.
March 13th, 2008 at 4:45 pmOMFG!!! Frankie just confessed to really being a fascist pig-in his own words @ 4:22. You heard it here first, folks.
Comment by Uncle Ho — March 13, 2008 @ 4:26 pm
Nah, he’s been bragging about his support for fascism for several weeks now.
March 13th, 2008 at 4:46 pmComment by liberal traitor — March 13, 2008 @ 4:35 pm
good call.
March 13th, 2008 at 4:48 pmComment by specialist f — March 13, 2008 @ 4:37 pm
Had to laugh at that one.
March 13th, 2008 at 4:49 pmThe war is the greatest blunder in U.S. history period. What kind of idiot wouldn’t question the Commander in Chief? Names anyone?
Comment by the Lone Voice of Reason — March 13, 2008 @ 4:04 pm
Umm… Frank M?
Cheap Gin?
Stone Pile Dude?
… should I continue?
March 13th, 2008 at 4:58 pmHow do you run a war with constant turnover of the commanders? Oh yeah, it ain’t a war. Sorry I forgot.
March 13th, 2008 at 5:14 pmFrank M is just a bigmouth coward, afraid of his own shadow, Ignoring him is the best solution to shutting him up, short of exiling him to North Korea, if he isn’t already posting from there.
March 13th, 2008 at 5:23 pmfrankie; If you are such a proclaimed fascist, then just WTF are you even here at TP? You are certainly not welcome by those of us who believe in democracy, democracy, and the Bill of Rights.
March 13th, 2008 at 5:28 pmGo post at some KKK site, they would welcome your support of tyranny and dictatorship.
I believe Frank chose to leave this post. He was on shaky ground as it was. More so than usual.
March 13th, 2008 at 5:35 pmtypical array of “contributions” from our own mini-manson family.
If there were any significant number of them, I’d be seriously concerned. Since it’s the same tiny handful day in and day out, it’s safe to conclude they’re a splinter of a splinter of a fringe group of diehard rightwing goofs.
March 13th, 2008 at 5:42 pmI’d like it if Fallon would let go of his ankles, pull up his pants, and tell the country how this administration is hopelessly involved in a catastrophe they’ve created for no good reason, and have NO idea how to cope with their tragic blunder.
March 13th, 2008 at 5:58 pmDoes this sound like High Chancellor Sutler from V for Vendetta to anyone else or is it just me? It’s almost like Franky boy is yelling at us from a giant screen in his mind “I WANT EVERYONE TO REMEMBER WHY THEY NEED US!!!
Comment by liberal traitor — March 13, 2008 @ 4:35 pm
Yes!!
March 13th, 2008 at 6:24 pmHey General Dave, ever find all those guns you lost over there in Iraq? Knowing him he probably sold them to pad his retirement nest egg.
March 13th, 2008 at 6:36 pmPetraeus is a much better fit for Bush’s minions. Isn’t he the one who oversaw the “gone missing” of an awful lot of weapons, before being promoted to leading the “surge”? Qualification to be a favorite means having proven your incompetence.
March 13th, 2008 at 6:47 pmFor our right wing fans:
In World War 2 this nation fought to remove a fascist dictator who had aligned himself with Hitler. I spent 23 years of his life serving this country in the military so individuals like you can have your rights. The rights afforded you under The Constitution (except the 4th, that one is already dead) and a document that is under attack by the current administration that you love so much. An administration filled with individuals who never served in the military who never put their life on the line for the rights they are so hellbent on eliminating.
It has been said that the ultimate sign of a patriot is one who believes so much in the freedom of speech that they will allow someone to speak in support of all that they find repugnant (paraphrase). So for those of you who support fascism and support a president who I despise please speak out because that is your right.
But I should warn you, if things continue the way they are you may not have that right much longer. Even if you’re a supporter of Bush you’re not part of the inner circle that he will protect. No, you’ll just be cannon fodder like the rest of us. Your president won’t do a damn thing for you because you can’t do a damn thing for him except sit and post blog rants in his defense. There won’t be a need for blog rants is our junior dictator has his way because free speech will no longer exist. So by all means, speak up for your president and enjoy your rights while you still have them.
March 13th, 2008 at 7:11 pmand so I’m not mistaken, I don’t believe that serving in the military is the only way to serve your country. What I do have a problem with is having individuals who sought any and all possible ways to avoid the draft then turns around and sends troops to fight and die in a war started by lies.
March 13th, 2008 at 7:15 pmAdmiral Fallon said that Petraeus is an ass kisser and a chickenshit. That’s good enough for me.
March 13th, 2008 at 11:06 pmPursang @ 7:15 pm;
well said.
March 14th, 2008 at 8:53 amtesting.
March 17th, 2008 at 8:20 amtesting2
March 17th, 2008 at 8:37 amand again.
March 17th, 2008 at 8:45 amIt has been said that the ultimate sign of a patriot is one who believes so much in the freedom of speech that they will allow someone to speak in support of all that they find repugnant (paraphrase). So for those of you who support fascism and support a president who I despise please speak out because that is your right.
But I should warn you, if things continue the way they are you may not have that right much longer. Even if you’re a supporter of Bush you’re not part of the inner circle that he will protect. No, you’ll just be cannon fodder like the rest of us. Your president won’t do dell inspiron 2800 battery,dell latitude ls 400 battery a damn thing for you because you can’t do a damn thing for him except sit and post blog rants in his defense.
October 15th, 2008 at 4:39 am