(to the editor, St Pete Times)http://www.tampabay.com/opinion/letters ... 431320.ece
A warrior's role
Adm. William Fallon, the commander of the Tampa-based U.S. Central Command, should have been fired and the president would have been completely justified in firing him instead of allowing the admiral to depart on his terms.
I for one am getting tired of seeing generals and admirals become diplomats instead of warriors. If they want to be diplomats they should have joined the State Department.
The Esquire article that led to Fallon's resignationdescribes a commander who did not perform the will of the commander in chief. The commander of Central Command's job is to execute the policy established by the commander in chief. That's the way it is supposed to be. Instead, the article describes Fallon as the one standing between the president and war — "The Good Cop."
The president isn't well served by a military commander acting as a good cop in this dangerous world of nutcase dictators. The military commander should be the vicious pit bull, tugging on his chain, baring his teeth that the president — during the conduct of his foreign policy — can point to and say don't make me let the war dog loose because if I do he will kill you!
Let's get rid of the admirals and generals who want to be diplomats and put warriors in charge of combatant commands.
Kent Ralston, lieutenant colonel, U.S. Marine Corps (retired), Tampa
With due respect to the letter writer, "A warrior's role," March 26, I heartily disagree with the retired Marine Lt. Col. advocating the role of military commander as "vicious pit bull, tugging on his chain, baring his teeth that the president — during the conduct of his foreign policy — can point to and say don't make me let the war dog loose because if I do he will kill you!" This model leads to rash action and abuse of power, including the abuse of Marines as well, putting them at the butt end of bad deals with poor planning and stupid policy decisions.
Meanwhile, the warrior ethos has the urge to fight, but when Marines come home angry and battling inner demons, the Corps abandons them to character disorder discharges, courts-martials, and the veterans then find themselves on the street without substantive rehabilitation for PTSD.
The chief obstacle standing in the way of war against Iran has been the opposition of senior US military officers, who fear that another major military operation would further burden America's already overstretched combat forces. The most outspoken member of this common-sense faction was, until recently, Adm. William Fallon, commander of the US Central Command. When an article on Fallon appeared in Esquire that highlighted his criticism of the Bush/Cheney approach, he was forced to resign (though he insists he quit voluntarily). Fallon's departure five days before Cheney left for the Middle East clears the path for a US military strike.
Admiral Fallon is to be commended for his common sense in his informing restraint to a nutt-case president.
(J Loco)
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