Mark Bossingham

The insubordination of Adm. Fallon

MACUBIN THOMAS Owens presents an excellent argument on the insubordination of Adm. Fallon. Here's a bit. Read the whole thing.

The differences between Fallon and the administration were real, not the result of any misperception. It is well established that Fallon worked to undermine the "surge" in Iraq by pushing for faster troop reductions than the commander on the ground in Iraq, Gen. David Petraeus, thought prudent. He attempted to banish the phrase "the Long War" because, according to Barnett, it "signaled a long haul that Fallon simply finds unacceptable."
It is thus undeniable that as commander of CENTCOM, Fallon acted in a way that exceeded his authority. The tenor of Fallon's public pronouncements was in stark contrast to that of statements made by other high-ranking military officers who, while they have no desire to provoke a war with Iran while the U.S. military is heavily engaged in Iraq and Afghanistan, have not taken it upon themselves to constrain American foreign policy to the extent that Fallon has. Indeed, had Fallon not stepped down, the president would have been perfectly justified in firing him, as Abraham Lincoln fired Maj. Gen. George B. McClellan, as Franklin Roosevelt fired Rear Admiral James O. Richardson, and Harry Truman fired Gen. Douglas MacArthur.

Always the admiral

OK, THE idiots in the top brass at the Pentagon aren't always Navy admirals (think Gen. E. Shinseki) it just seems that way. Adm. Fallon, the first (and now probably the last) Navy guy to head Centcom quit today. The media is portraying  the resignation/firing as a lone wolf (Fallon) holding out against a president intent on war with Iran. Indeed, the quote attributed by Fallon that the U.S. wouldn't attack Iran "on his watch" is more than enough to get any commander fired. Iran, China, Kansas—it doesn't matter where he refuses to attack, it is still insubordination. The SecDef can't leave an officer in place who publicly announces that he won't follow certain orders.
Be that as it may, this take strikes me as trumping Fallon's suicidal remarks on what he will and will not do.
Pentagon insiders said that Admiral Fallon’s departure was more the result of a turf battle between him and General David Petraeus, the US ground commander in Iraq. Admiral Fallon was General Petraeus’s commanding officer but for months Mr Bush has deferred to General Petraeus, against the objections of Admiral Fallon, who is believed to have been advocating a speedier withdrawal of US troops from Iraq.

You liberals go first

"WE'RE GOING to take things away from you on behalf of the common good."
Hillary Clinton

U.S. attacks Canada!

IF THE United States was lobbing missiles into Canada on a daily basis do you think the media, the United Nations and the rest would condemn the Canucks for retaliating? I doubt it. The usual anti-semitic AP story brought the scenario to mind. Under one of those "Israel continues Gaza assault" headlines that ignore the "root cause" of the latest dust up, the story mentioned twice in the first two graphs that according to Palestinian sources there had been "civilian" casualties. A question and an answer—how many civilian casualties would there be if Hamas didn't fire rockets into Israel? Zero.

Domestic terrorists always on the left

MY FRIENDS love to demonize Christian "fundamentalists." They never shut up about their intolerance and when challenged, lamely bring up attacks on abortion clinics, as if they hare happening on the daily basis, rather than years ago. However, they are silent as lambs when i mention that the vast majority of domestic terrorists are on the their side of the political spectrum. The FBI and its statistics agree. The excitable Al Gore Brigade, oops, I mean the cutely named ELF struck again last night in Seattle doing millions of dollars of damage burning new houses to the ground. Imagine what the country would be like if they were in charge. These are the same people who whine about illusory assaults by the government on their "human rights." These are the same people that carry signs that read: "241 Marines killed in Beirut, live like pigs, die like pigs." That one was spotted a couple of days ago in Berkeley. Remember lefty buddies, the Christians were nowhere in sight in either locale. Your-finger pointing for decades old crimes gets a bit ludicrous when your comrades are attacking right now.

Told ya so

WHAT DID I say yesterday about journalism? Looks like I am not the only "right-wing nut" that thinks so.
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Nearly 70 percent of Americans believe traditional journalism is out of touch, and nearly half are turning to the Internet to get their news, according to a new survey.
While most people think journalism is important to the quality of life, 64 percent are dissatisfied with the quality of journalism in their communities, a We Media/Zogby Interactive online poll showed.

Drudge says 'me first!'

THE DRUDGE Report's recent "scoop" that Prince Harry of Britain was serving on the front lines in combat in Afghanistan is a textbook example of what is wrong with journalism today. Firstly, the story endangered the life of the prince and his fellow soldiers, a fact that was clearly foreseeable to Drudge. The British defense ministry wisely unavoidably but necessarily brought the lieutenant back home. However, Drudge wasn't interested in the consequences of his actions, he was only concerned with how he would benefit. In Drudge's case, he doesn't even have the excuse of being a partisan hack a la Bell Keller at the New York Times. Drudge is simply a hack and a whore. I deleted his bookmark. I can't imagine I am the only one. However, I think many people these days—people whose thinking I honestly can't fully comprehend—believe have some "right" to know everything, regardless of how it damages the subject of the smear or in this case "scoop." I have worked in this profession for more than 20 years and I am ashamed to even admit it. Is it really that surprising that the media is so roundly disliked by the public? People instinctively understand that the press has succeeded in creating a bulwark that it, cowards almost all, hides behind while throwing stones at innocents, killing metaphorically and in fact without consequence to themselves. I am not even sure that people know that it wasn't always this way. And that it can and will only get worse.