Centcom commander resigns

Admiral Fallon was recently in Ottawa and supported our combat role in Afstan (CTV video here). It now seems that he and the Bush administration have had a falling out. One trusts there will be no negative effect on American efforts in Afstan, which fall under Centcom:

Adm. William Fallon is stepping down as head of the U.S. Central Command, which oversees military matters in the Middle East, Defense Secretary Robert Gates announced Tuesday.

Gates said that Adm. William J. Fallon had asked for permission to retire and that Gates agreed. Gates said the decision, effective March 31, was entirely Fallon’s and that Gates believed it was “the right thing to do.”

Fallon was the subject of an article published last week in Esquire magazine that portrayed him 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.

Fallon, who is traveling in Iraq, issued a statement through his U.S. headquarters in Tampa, Fla.

'Distraction' cited

“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,” Fallon said.

“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 added.

Gates described as “ridiculous” any notion that Fallon’s departure signals the United States is planning to go to war with Iran. And he said “there is a misperception” that Fallon disagrees with the administration’s approach to Iran.

“I don’t think there were differences at all,” Gates added...

From the Esquire article (it seems to me that Admiral Fallon may have not been completely on board regarding Iraq too, if the reporting is accurate):

...
The rollback of Al Qaeda seems to be both real and continuing, save for the border region of Pakistan. And to gain greater flexibility to plan for the region, Fallon says that he is determined to draw down in Iraq. One of the reasons Fallon says he banished the term "long war" from Centcom's vocabulary is that he believes real victory in this struggle will be defined in economic terms first, and so the emphasis on war struck him as "too narrow." But the term also signaled a long haul that Fallon simply finds unacceptable. He wants troop levels in Iraq down now, and he wants the Afghan National Army running the show throughout most of Afghanistan by the end of this year [emphasis added]. Fallon says he wants to move the pile dramatically in the time he's got remaining, however long that may be. And he gets frustrated. "I grind my teeth at the pace of change."

Freeing the United States from being tied down in Iraq means a stronger effort in Afghanistan [emphasis added], more focus on Pakistan, and more time spent creating networks of relationships in Central Asia...

See also p. 3 of the piece for the Admiral in Afstan.

Regardless of any difference over Iran, if you read the whole piece you'll see how much more freely senior American officers speak than even CDS Gen. Hillier. And while there is clear partisanship in the quote below, the general view on the latitude allowed senior officers is the common one in the US, unlike Canada:

...
Some Democrats in Congress, including Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada, seized on Fallon's resignation to assert that it reflected an effort by the Bush administration to stifle dissenting opinion.

"I am concerned that the resignation of Admiral William J. Fallon, commander of all U.S. forces in the Middle East and a military leader with more than three decades of command experience, is yet another example that independence and the frank, open airing [emphasis added] of experts' views are not welcomed in this administration," Reid said...

Update: More via an e-mail from the Conference of Defence Associations' Executive Director:

Yesterday, Admiral William Fallon, Commander of US Central Command, resigned from his post, citing perceived differences between his views and those of the US administration.

Many in the press have referred to an Esquire magazine article on Fallon by Thomas Barnett, entitled "The Man Between War and Peace". A link is provided below to this lengthy and fascinating article.
http://www.esquire.com/features/fox-fallon

We would like to remind readers that Admiral Fallon was a speaker
at the CDA conference last month, and that Thomas Barnett spoke
at the CDA Institute seminar in March 2005.

Thom Shanker in the New York Times reports on this development.
See link below.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/12/washington/12military.html

Sara Carter in the Washington Times (link below) reports on the
differences between Fallon and the US President over Iran.
http://washingtontimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080312/NATION/165288
292/1001

An article in the Wall Street Journal (link below) provides a
political and military context to the move, in light of internal
US military debate over Iraq.
http://online.wsj.com/public/article_print/SB120527897136528683.html

A report in the Washington Post (link below) outlines the
differences of opinion over Iraq between Admiral Fallon and
General David Petraeus.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/09/08/AR2007090801
846_pf.html

The Los Angeles Times has published an article by Max Boot that
outlines the reasons why Fallon's tenure as Commander US Central
Command could be viewed as a failure. Link is below.
http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/la-oe-boot12mar12,0,5337128.story