Dan Froomkin: Are We Closer to War?

[babylonsister]

Are We Closer to War?

By Dan Froomkin
Special to washingtonpost.com
Wednesday, March 12, 2008; 11:51 AM



The abrupt resignation yesterday of the top U.S. commander in the Middle East, Admiral William J. "Fox" Fallon, has sparked a new round of speculation that President Bush and Vice President Cheney have some sort of plan in the works to attack Iran before their time is up.

Fallon's resignation -- or firing -- was apparently precipitated in part by a recent Esquire profile that depicted him as brazenly pushing back against the White House hawks eager to launch another war.

Now it turns out that what Thomas P.M. Barnett, a former Naval War College professor, wrote in that profile was eerily prescient: "How does Fallon get away with so brazenly challenging his commander in chief?

"The answer is that he might not get away with it for much longer. President Bush is not accustomed to a subordinate who speaks his mind as freely as Fallon does, and the president may have had enough.

"Just as Fallon took over Centcom last spring, the White House was putting itself on a war footing with Iran. Almost instantly, Fallon began to calmly push back against what he saw as an ill-advised action. Over the course of 2007, Fallon's statements in the press grew increasingly dismissive of the possibility of war, creating serious friction with the White House.

more...

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/blog/2008/03/12/BL2008031201898_pf.html

[Selatius]

1. One thing is for sure. With Fallon gone. There's one less obstacle for Bush-Cheney.

If they want war, Fallon is no longer interfering. For Bush-Cheney, they would rather have the freedom to maneuver on this issue. Fallon blocked them from doing that.

[Palladin]

2. Barack Obama's campaign

needs to contact the Admiral immediately as he retires and get him speaking his full mind on the coming war. The people need to know how much this war is going to hurt them personally, economically. Time for Obama to step up here - even if the Lobby decides to go after him - and they will, they will.

[Adsos Letter]

3. I would not put it past Bushco to take us to war in Iran, BUT...

it may simply be that they have no intention of actually initiating a war there, but that Fallon's public statements make it difficult tor Bushco to "rattle the sword"...I'm sure they want to give the appearance of unity between government and military if they are going to increase the sword rattling.

However, my threshold of surprise gets higher and higher as life progesses...