Brass Vs. Chickenhawks

U.S. military leaders are under no illusions about the disaster that would befall our military if the neocon chickenhawks in the Administration were to launch an attack against Iran. Admiral William Fallon, commander of all U.S. forces in the Middle East (and Gen. Petraeus' boss), told the London Financial Times that the Pentagon is not preparing a pre-emptive strike against Iran. In a not-so-thinly-veiled shot at the neocon chickenhawks calling for an immediate attack, Fallon indicated that the loose talk pushing for another war "was just not where we want to go." Fallon also once famously referred to Petraeus as "an ass-kissing little chickenshit" so he doesn't mince words. He also knows that Preznit Chimpy and his boss Dead Eye have wrecked the U.S. armed forces with the Iraq screw-up, and doesn't want to have further damage done before Chimpy leaves town.

The fault line within the Administration is breaking roughly between DOD (Fallon/Secretary Gates) on one side and Dead Eye and his gang on the other. Preznit Chimpy will be told what to do at some later point when the grownups have fought it out. If the consequences weren't so deadly, it would be fun to watch.

Not Fallon For The Surge

In an interesting sidebar to the Gen. Petraeus show this week, Think Progress notes that Admiral William Fallon, supreme commander of our forces in the Middle East - - and Petraeus' boss - - has been notably absent from the Presidunce's roll-out of his "the surge is awesome" show. Even more interesting is Admiral Fallon's view of Petraeus, whom he referred to as an "ass-kissing little chickenshit." There's apparently a dustup continuing in the Pentagon between Petraeus and senior military officers, most prominently Adm. Fallon, due to their opposite philosophies over the war and military readiness. Pentagon brass are referring to the conflict internally as "Armageddon."

Senator Jim Webb will be calling on the Senate Armed Services Committee to hear from Admiral Fallon on his "views." Keep the kids away from the TV. Heh heh.