Posted by
Cary Wesberry on Tuesday, March 11, 2008 6:03:55 PM
WASHINGTON — Navy Adm. William Fallon, the head of U.S. Central Command, which leads U.S. operations in Iraq and Afghanistan, is stepping down, Defense Secretary Robert Gates announced Tuesday.
Fallon claimed ongoing misperceptions about differences between his ideas and U.S. policy are making it too difficult for him to operate, Gates said, agreeing. He added that the differences are not extreme, but the misperception had become too great.
"I believe it was the right thing to do, even though I do not believe there are, in fact, significant differences between his views and administration policy," Gates said, noting that he accepted the request to retire with "reluctance and regret."
"I don't know whether he was misinterpreted or whether people attributed views to him that were not his views, but clearly there was a concern," Gates said.
The misperceptions relate to an article published last week in Esquire magazine that portrayed Fallon as opposed to President Bush's Iran policy. It described Fallon as a lone voice against taking military action to stop the Iranian nuclear program.
In a statement distributed by Centcom headquarters in Tampa, Fla., Fallon said he requested permission to step down because the article showed disrespect toward the president and caused embarrassment and distractions that were the result of misrepresentations of his views of Centcom missions.
"Recent press reports suggesting a disconnect between my views and the president's policy objectives have become a distraction at a critical time and hamper efforts in the Centcom region. And although I don't believe there have ever been any differences about the objectives of our policy in the Central Command area of responsibility, the simple perception that there is makes it difficult for me to effectively serve America's interests there," Fallon said.
Due to the media misinterpreting the words and beliefs of Adm. Fallon, he is now resigning. I had thought our Commander in Chief, also known as the President of the United States, would be making those decisions. Apparently not. We're at war and the liberal idiot media can write one erroneous article and make changes in command structure. If indeed that's the case, why don't we go ahead and just put General Katie Couric in charge of Centcom and be done with it?