Fascinating article by Thomas Barnett in the April Esquire on Admiral Fallon, who sits as apparently the only remaining obstacle between the Bush-Cheney criminal regime and war with Iran. Every time Bush rattles his saber, Fallon makes the regional diplomatic rounds to calm fears of an expanded, uncontrollable conflict and makes public announcements that he thinks going to war would be a mistake.
According to Barnett, Bush/Cheney are tired of Fallon’s unwillingness to get with the program and are planning to move him out of the way.
It’s a long article, and there are a number of interesting aspects worthy of detailed discussion.
Will the military high command including Fallon, and SecDef Gates who handpicked Fallon as a rational, calm, experienced check on the aggressiveness of Bush and his pawn Petreus, stand up to Bush?
Or will they allow themselves to be forced into a broader war at the same time that the ground-based military is stretched to the breaking point?
If the military will not comply with Bush’s orders for military strikes against Iran, what does that mean for Constitutional order?
Why is Fallon, the theater military Commander, spending so much of his time doing diplomatic duty?
Does this mean that the State Department is truly defunct as an operational branch of the government?
Was the Cheney-Rumsfeld restructuring so thorough that Condi Rice nothing but a figurehead presiding over a powerless Potemkin structure at State as she was at the NSA? Is the Secretary of Defense equally powerless in the face of madness?
Is there only one operational head of the entire government – Dick Cheney – and will he now have his war with Iran?
Go and read. h/t digby & TP
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Typical...
Bush only listens to the military when they tell him what he wants to hear. When they don't, they get the axe. Then he blames his yes men when things go wrong.
Very interesting article
It sounds like he is the only one doing diplomatic duty. The State Department is woefully understaffed with a very significant number of major positions now unfilled. For some reason Condi is not making any attempt to fill the openings. I think Cheney did a bang-up job of sticking his people in all the top positions within all the major cabinets and she appears powerless against them. Sad state of affairs.
The selection of Robert Gates as SecDef proved to be a smart choice. He hand picked Fallon. There has been a concerted pushback against the neocons by Fallon and the Intelligence agencies. Someone needs some smarts.
I could not find anywhere in the article where "sources said" Fallon was being replaced. Only vague assertions as to how his actions undermine the worldview of the neocons and that has not made them happy. I guess it's a fight between Gates and Cheney.
wasabi: Section 1 Paragraph 8
And your sentence:
"For some reason Condi is not making any attempt to _______."
is sort of all-purpose for any job she's ever had, isn't it?
Condi Rice, the perfect place-holder.