Bush wanted Fallon out?

Posted: Wednesday, March 12, 2008 3:25 PM by Domenico Montanaro
Filed Under: White House, John Yang

From NBC's John Yang
In her off-camera, on-the-record gaggle, White House Press Scretary Dana Perino denied that Admiral Fallon's departure indicated that the administration doesn't tolerate dissent. She called that "nonsense. The President welcome robust and healthy debate. ... The President is in no way asking that people not talk to the media," she said. (Save that last phrase for future reference.)

VIDEO: March 11: After being portrayed in Esquire magazine as "brazenly challenging" President Bush over a potential war with Iran, Adm. William Fallon said those words had become a distraction, forcing him to step aside as leader of Central Command. NBC's Jim Miklaszewski reports.

On the other hand, she noted that Fallon participated in a weekly secure videoteleconference with the president and had "ample opportunity" to express himself privately.

Perino also clearly indicated that Bush wanted Fallon gone, repeatedly saying that he had asked Gates to handle "this matter" within the Pentagon. "He asked Secretary Gates to handle this in the Pentagon and it was," she said.

Timeline: Defense Secretary Gates called National Security Advisor Stephen Hadley Tuesday morning to tell him that Fallon was going and Hadley informed Bush before the president left for Tennessee.

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Comments

IRAN here we come. The last wall has fallen. There is no stopping it now.

Johnson, New Orleans, LA (Sent Wednesday, March 12, 2008 3:35 PM)

The president welcomes robust and healthy debate!
What a crock that is!

Sharon stone (Sent Wednesday, March 12, 2008 3:36 PM)

Lier, lier pants on fire. Just like W.

j fl (Sent Wednesday, March 12, 2008 3:38 PM)

JHC I wish we could get rid of shrub that fast! I dream of some garbage disposal robot carrying him off to the landfill!

garbage IN garbage OUT! (Sent Wednesday, March 12, 2008 3:39 PM)

GW Bush has never been a fan of people who are smarter than he is. It's too bad. Maybe he could have learned something in his lifetime.

He has consistently surrounded himself with people who are arrogant, but not too bright. There is a difference. The American people failed to see that until it was too late. And because of this, our military has paid the ultimate price.

This Admin. has never had a thought for anyone but themselves and their supposed superiority. They have shown no courage, no creativity, no dissension within. Just ultimate power.

I wonder how much money Halliburton will make this year. Hear the story last night about the towels our military is forced to BUY?

Vote Out The Selfish Self-Centered Baby Boomers (Sent Wednesday, March 12, 2008 3:43 PM)

I am suspicious of presidents who do not want to take the military advice of their commanders.

Ed H, sun city, az (Sent Wednesday, March 12, 2008 3:44 PM)

Bush's idea of "robust healthy debate" means boot licking is merely optional.

Ian (Sent Wednesday, March 12, 2008 3:48 PM)

It has been made clear in the past that this president requires loyalty from all that serve under him. This includes ideas on the conflicts in Afghanistan and Iraq as well as possible situtations in Iran. I see the departure of Fallon as something that could happen since his interview seems to run against Bush policy.

S.B. Stein E.B. NJ (Sent Wednesday, March 12, 2008 3:50 PM)

Don't the wingnuts tell us to listen to the generals? When is the chickenhawk who hid out in the Texas Air National Guard gonna do this? Or, don't ADMIRALS count? Sheesh, if Roosevelt ran WWII like this, we'd be speaking German and Japanese today!

Joe Einloth (Sent Wednesday, March 12, 2008 3:52 PM)

There will be no dissension on the ranks...bush only listens to the commanders on the ground who agree with him

Rick, NC (Sent Wednesday, March 12, 2008 4:02 PM)

Well now the Fallon "roadblock" is out of the way between Bush/Cheney and Iran. Should make McBomb happy. Oh Hillary voted yes and gave em her blessing on that one too. Are they still scaring you into supporting them? By the way what ever happened to HJR 24? (from back in 2005) it moved to eliminate the 22nd amendment (Presidential term limits). Just asking. Good luck my fellow Americans.
Obama '08
Change We Can Believe In

JohnnyU, WA State (Sent Wednesday, March 12, 2008 4:03 PM)

Matt, Las Vegas, NV (Sent Wednesday, March 12, 2008 4:05 PM)

<a>href=http://article.nationalreview.com/?q=NGU2YmQzZTJjYWMyN2NkZmIwOGNiODkzZGU4YTkxODU=</a>

The wingnuts couldn't wait to Swift Boat this guy!

Joe Einloth (Sent Wednesday, March 12, 2008 4:06 PM)

Admiral Fallon represents the best of the military. His only fault was to serve under the worst. There's no room in the dum-dum "W" administration for anyone but yes men and women. Makes you wonder why Bush would be against cloning.

bill, okla (Sent Wednesday, March 12, 2008 4:11 PM)

Absolutely, without a doubt, the worst presidency in the history of our nation. I hope that university in Texas is ready for his library; all four empty walls of it.

Sherri, Charleston WV (Sent Wednesday, March 12, 2008 4:17 PM)

Fallon's gettin' out while the gettin' is good.

As the temporary lull in violence produced by The Surge (which is all it could ever have been expected to produce) begins to deteriorate -- and US and Iraqi casualties begin to resume their former levels -- I wouldn't want to be left holding the bag, either.

Proponents of a similar troop surge in Afghanistan please take note: These guys are even better at playing the hide-and-seek waiting game than the Iraqis, as everyone from the British to the Soviets to the Turks to the Persians (and on and on throughout the last thousand years or so) has discovered. The last guy to have any luck at all in subduing them was Genghis Khan -- who did it by killing a rich percentage of the population; leveling all the major cities; and utterly destroying their agricultural capability.

Y'all up for that? 'Cause if you're not -- if you just want to play endless war a little while longer for the sake of lining the pockets of your very own military/industrial/oil complex -- there is nothing for you in Afghanistan but a train-load of tears.

Afghanistan is where modern super-powers go to die; like Yogi Berra says, "You can look it up" ...

Rick Lapin, Albuquerque, NM (Sent Wednesday, March 12, 2008 4:17 PM)

We’re supposed to take Dana Perino’s word for it that President Bush doesn’t stifle dissent? Oh, please. Do the names Powell, Eaton, Zinni, Batiste, McPeak, and Sanchez (just to name a few) ring any bells?

http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/060407L.shtml
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/opinion/266638_solarosub16.html
http://www.thenation.com/doc/20061016/whalen
http://www.cnn.com/2004/ALLPOLITICS/07/31/dems.radio/

If Admiral Fallon wasn’t forced out for talking to media or for something that he said in one or more of those teleconferences, then what was it? Since the surge is supposedly working so well, why else would Bush be so anxious to get rid of him that he would badger Secretary Gates to get it done?

Exactly what DOES Admiral Fallon know about Bush’s plans for Iran? Maybe someone should study that interview carefully to see what’s hidden between the lines. After all, the Bush administration doesn’t have much time left to waste ….

Amy Andersen, Eden Prairie, MN (Sent Wednesday, March 12, 2008 4:27 PM)

It matters not who McCain picks as his VP candidate. During the general election as he is running against Obama somewhere along the line a reporter or two will ask probing questions, or maybe even during a debate, McCain is going to lose that famous temper of his that will reflect a somewhat unbalanced personality. Or, he'll get so carried away with his claim to his national security expertise that he will let slip and tell someone he really does believe there are Al Quaeda hiding under his bed. That will be all she wrote and Obama will be elected President.

C A, Tuscaloosa, AL (Sent Wednesday, March 12, 2008 4:34 PM)

WASHINGTON - The Treasury Department says the federal deficit swelled to $263.3 billion in the first five months of this budget year as record spending during the period outpaced record revenues. - AP

It's the Republican formula:

1) Claim you don't spend money like a 'liberal'
2) Claim you like smaller government
3) Claim we can't afford ANY social programs

then once they have controll of the WhiteHouse and Congress, turnaround and:

1) Spend money like a Liberal if it supports the Republican ideal of world domination.
2) Increase the size of the Government, monitor your own citizens, wire tap them, strip their rights away in the name of National Security, establish multi-national forces in the homeland, create huge new bueracracies like The Homeland Security Department, invade sovrign nations, nation build, destroy the economy with corporate scandle, increase the net worth of the top 1%, decrease the net worth of the other 99%, outsource jobs to other countries, let companies like GE continue to sell equipment to Syria & Iran, award no-bid government contracts in Iraq to companies like Halliburton that were previously run by Dick Cheney, etc. (I could continue till I'm blue in the face on this one.)
3) Invest 500+ billion dollars in Iraq, a country who currently has a surplus of about 60 billion dollars from oil sales.

Anyone still up for 4-8 more years of Republican rule?

Matt, Las Vegas, NV (Sent Wednesday, March 12, 2008 4:35 PM)

If Fallon wants to run the show his way, he can run for president just like anyone else can. If he ran as a Democrat, he'd probably win this years nomination over the two lame-brains that are currently running.

Foster Ailnel, Lake City FL (Sent Wednesday, March 12, 2008 4:36 PM)

lets see is Bush a republician, like Spitzer is a Democrat? Media seems to run from Democrat Tags

truthnmedia (Sent Wednesday, March 12, 2008 4:36 PM)

Bush welcomes robust and healthy debate. ... as long as everyone agrees with him. Can't wait for this joker to be replaced by Barack Obama!

Diane from Illinois (Sent Wednesday, March 12, 2008 4:37 PM)

healthy and robust debate BS! Just as long as it's what his highness wants to hear.

jeanie o, saint inigoes, md (Sent Wednesday, March 12, 2008 4:40 PM)

12 KIA in three days, up tick in Iraqi on Iraqi violence. What is the body count threshold for an Iraq thread of First Read?
Sorry if this is off topic.

Gary Schear, Bozeman Montana (Sent Wednesday, March 12, 2008 4:42 PM)

Bush wants to start another war thinking it will be the best way to keep the Republicans in power. Admiral Fallon called him on this and he got canned.

Bush = the worst president since Herbet Hoover. At least Hoover didn't exacerbate the economic conditions by continuing to fight a $3 trillion war.

Robert, Boulder CO (Sent Wednesday, March 12, 2008 4:47 PM)

Shame upon disgusting shame.
Can't wait to see this moron escorted to AF 1 by President and Mrs. Obama for his last ride to the ranch. Don't let the jet way hit you in the A**, W.

Gary Schear, Bozeman Montana (Sent Wednesday, March 12, 2008 4:48 PM)

"Can't wait to see this moron escorted to AF 1 by President and Mrs. Obama for his last ride to the ranch."

The one in Paraguay?

John Doe, Seattle, WA (Sent Wednesday, March 12, 2008 5:07 PM)

I still can't take anybody seriously who doesn't know what that Cuban missile crises thingy was.
OUT!

Gary Schear, Bozeman Montana (Sent Wednesday, March 12, 2008 5:21 PM)

Bush will have one book in his library - My Pet Goat

Doug Friede (Sent Wednesday, March 12, 2008 5:26 PM)

Fallon on going to war with Iran: "They are ants and we would crush them."

But who gives a crap about context and actually reading the Esquire article? The author of the article and Jim Miklasjewski have their own agendas.

Gary Schear:

The market was up 416 points yesterday, it doesn't mean the uptick is a trend. Like casualties in Iraq, the longer trend is down, which explains the absence of an Iraq thread on First Read.

The daily average in March, 2008, including the casualties you mention, is still less than half of what it was in March a year ago.

Richard, Washington State (Sent Wednesday, March 12, 2008 5:43 PM)

Rick in NEW MEXICO.....Excellent, excellent post. Thank you!

Matt, Las Vegas, NV (Sent Wednesday, March 12, 2008 6:10 PM)

When is the right time to leave Iraq? What's the threshold or metric of success, or like Bush, does John McCain also not have a clue of when to declare victory and leave that hell-hole? With oil setting records everyday, the dollar crumbling, stocks tumbling, Afghanistan fading, & the military thinning...how can they still say it was a good idea?
Time to get their heads checked.

Joe (Sent Wednesday, March 12, 2008 6:11 PM)

Admiral Fallon is an honorable man. He is a true leader, who cares dearly about our country and our military men and women. I was not an admirer of him initially, but he has earned my respect. We expect our leaders, especially military leaders who put our honorable men and women in harms way, to speak the truth. They should not be politicians. They should be true tellers. Admiral Fallon is. Both of my sons are in Iraq. Multiple tours. They respect leaders that tell the truth. Franks didn't. Rumsfeld didn/t. They chicken hawks didn't. Now I hear the McCain is speaking to Gen Petreus to run as his VP. Note his trip over there in the next couple of weeks. Gen Petraeus needs to make up his mind whether he is a military leader or a politician. You cannot be both! Long live the greatest country in the history of mankind.

CMSgt Gary Preston, Annandale, VA (Sent Wednesday, March 12, 2008 6:14 PM)

McCain is widely seen as MUCH MORE HAWKISH than Bush and his crew on Iran, Iraq, N.Korea, Russia, China, etc.

Who wants that? Any takers?

Anyone want war with Russia? How about China? Think we are ready for them to "bring it on"?

We are holding on to the title of superpower by a thread folks. All it takes is a real war with a real army and we have a major major problem. Even Iran could beat us in a conventional war if we don't use nukes. If we use nukes, enter Russia and China, WWIII breaks out, end of days, end of story.

Get your bunkers ready if McCain gets elected.

Matt, Las Vegas, NV (Sent Wednesday, March 12, 2008 6:14 PM)

Lesson, don't vote for anyone from Texas again! Their real proud of their state but that pride spills over so much that they are blind of their actions.

obamacan31, seattle (Sent Wednesday, March 12, 2008 6:16 PM)

“In a time of universal deceit (Bush, Cheney, Gonzales, Rumsfeld, Powell, Condoleeza, Bremner, Franks, Perino, et al), telling the truth becomes a revolutionary act (Fallon)."
-(Paraphrasing) George Orwell

Once again, Bush's lies come back to make a mockery of his posturing and bellicose statements: "I rely on my military commanders in the field". What he really meant is, " But only if they completely agree with me because I am the King". He has no clothes. Not a stitch.

R.Merrell (Sent Wednesday, March 12, 2008 6:21 PM)

Dana Perino...
She is only there because she is a woman and the only person who wanted the job. She has been caught in so many lies that I am surprised that Dubya has not lined her up for a Supreme Court slot.

Walter Hussein Perino,Alamagordo,NM (Sent Wednesday, March 12, 2008 6:21 PM)

Adm. Fallon actually represents the more inept. In WWII,he would have achieved the stature of a Kimmel ,a Frederhall,or a Clark. Bush was correct to can him,if such occurred,for the general or admiral who serves the president has no business whatever conducting foreign and military policy over the head of the president of any party,particularly when its interests only serve those of the enemy,and especially when they are diametrically opposed to the commander in chiefs policies.[His embrasure ,like those of Bush critics of the 2007 NIE was wrong. Iran continues in its mission to create a nuclear weapon by which it can move to endanger the Middle East,and threaten a response against any American opposition to an Iranian takeover of the Gulf region.[opposition,we will remind the readers, is backed by both Obama and Clinton in their foreign policy speeches]. Fallon dismissed such a threat,and has already been proven incorrect by events,and was loudmouthed in his Iranian viewpoints,becoming dependably printed in Tehran newspapers]. Pass to Iraq,and he has engineered nothing. It becomes Petraeus and Odierno who have proven the more tactical and strategically minded.

www.realclearpolitics.com Boot,Max.Los Angeles Times,Mar.12,2008.

Lee Holmes (Sent Wednesday, March 12, 2008 6:37 PM)

Bush immediately celebrated with some of his old 'coke buddies' from his college days by doing an improptu recreation of the famous photo of Bush with a bottle of champaign full tilt in his mouth. Later after the cameras were gone, they busted out with the 'powder'.
Matt, Las Vegas, NV (Sent Wednesday, March 12, 2008 4:05
------------------------------------------------

Are you sure? I thought it was OBAMA all excited about Mississippi!

HP Boston (Sent Wednesday, March 12, 2008 6:40 PM)

HP Boston (Sent Wednesday, March 12, 2008 6:43 PM)

Uhh,Matt. The Congress[which is in charge of spending],has been run by Democrats for nearly a year and a half.Under their rule,earmarks for pork projects including defense and Homeland Security have reached a record for the same amount of time[Aug.2005-Jan.2007],that the GOP ran the same body.[top Defense wastrel and spender? Jack Murtha of Pa.who threw a big party at the DC RITZ-CARLTON last week for all of his Defense lobbyist pals]. Then,when the USAF actually tried to reduce spending for refueling tankers,by going with the lower-bid AIRBUS,Democrats have a conniption because they would'nt spend billions more by going with BOEING.[Norm Dicks,Democrat from Washington who was raising the most hell,forced a light attack boat on the Navy that it said it did not want or need,wasting millions. Go to Bremerton and its port to view the rusting hulk now resting at one of its wharves]. Finally,the one and only spending reform bill in Congress,eminates from a Republican,and has been shelved[about ten hours ago],by the Democrat House majority leader.
Heh. You guys are only signing on to More Of The Same.

www.porkbusters.com

Lee Holmes (Sent Wednesday, March 12, 2008 6:59 PM)

Standard Bush line - "I'll wait to hear from the troops on the ground."

I see.

Wayne, Houston, Tx (Sent Wednesday, March 12, 2008 7:01 PM)

What aggravates me about Bush is that the taxpayers will be paying millions to have this criminal protected by the secret servicee and probably for the rest of his life.The whole bunch is so detested from the rotten head down.He is not just leaving washington he is leaving his stench of corruption.

HT (Sent Wednesday, March 12, 2008 7:02 PM)

We all know Bush is a liar and a cheat, he and his big business friends love the profit in war. Halliburton did not even need to offer a competitive bid (against Federal law). Bush promotes war so big business can make money rebuilding. Parden me, God tells him to drop bombs.Hillary is trying to steal the nomination just as Bush did three years ago. Shame on us if we allow this to happen again.

shirley, San Jose, CA (Sent Wednesday, March 12, 2008 7:51 PM)

Then there is this ''Halliburton''deal.

We find,through the offices of the Internal Revenue Service and the Federal Election Commission that President Bush owns not a dime in this company.[Bush,as all presidents in the modern era,obliged to release a periodic statement of holdings and personal worth].

Yet billionare George Soros owns over two million [with a ''m''],shares of HALLIBURTON,one of the largest single stockholders in the company for which he recieved nearly three million dollars a month[high.54.50 P/S Jan.2007] in dividends[DOW Industrial Averages. Dec.2006-Feb.2008]. Where is this dough funneled?

Well,it goes to these people.

Democracy Alliance[liberal-leftwinged].From here,it branches out to these.

Center for American Progress[liberal-leftwinged]

People for the American Way[leftwinged-libertarian]

MEDIAMATTERS[liberal-leftwinged]

MOVEON.ORG [leftwinged]

Thus are leftwingers and other liberal causes being bankrolled by HALLIBURTON. Remember,Their Success Is Your Success.

REUTERS Feb.17,2007-''Soros Details JETBLUE,HALLIBURTON,Large Stock Holdings''

PS. For those of you desiring to check out the cheaper java at DUNKIN DONUTS over say,STARBUCKS,you will be reminded that DONUTS,is owned by The Carlyle Group,top Saudi arms dealer.[and another Soros venture].

Lee Holmes (Sent Wednesday, March 12, 2008 7:55 PM)

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