Fallon Derides Petraeus as an Ass Kissing Little Chickenshit

[illinoisprogressive]

In sharp contrast to the lionisation of Gen. David Petraeus by members of the U.S. Congress during his testimony this week, Petraeus's superior, Admiral William Fallon, chief of the Central Command (CENTCOM), derided Petraeus as a sycophant during their first meeting in Baghdad last March, according to Pentagon sources familiar with reports of the meeting.
Fallon told Petraeus that he considered him to be "an ass-kissing little chickenshit" and added, "I hate people like that", the sources say. That remark reportedly came after Petraeus began the meeting by making remarks that Fallon interpreted as trying to ingratiate himself with a superior.

That extraordinarily contentious start of Fallon's mission to Baghdad led to more meetings marked by acute tension between the two commanders. Fallon went on develop his own alternative to Petraeus's recommendation for continued high levels of U.S. troops in Iraq during the summer.

The enmity between the two commanders became public knowledge when the Washington Post reported Sep. 9 on intense conflict within the administration over Iraq. The story quoted a senior official as saying that referring to "bad relations" between them is "the understatement of the century".

Fallon's derision toward Petraeus reflected both the CENTCOM commander's personal distaste for Petraeus's style of operating and their fundamental policy differences over Iraq, according to the sources.

http://www.ipsnews.net/print.asp?idnews=39235

[frogcycle]

1. wow - great find!

We need to hear a lot more from Fallon. And it just sounds like we might. bush's poodle may not have many friends.

[napi21]

2. Read the whole story at the link if you have time. It really shows

the internal termoil not only between the two cammanders, but inside the WH too!

[saltpoint]

3. Well don't sugar-coat it for us, Admiral. Tell us how you REALLY feel.

_________
Wow.

They're gonna have to call in Dr. Phil for this one.

[Graybeard]

4. Fallon: There will be no attack on Iran on my watch!

Fallon is a man who speaks his mind and doesn't give a damn for the consequences. He reminds me of the old movie"7 Days In May." In that film the only member of the Joint Chiefs Of Staff that would not go along with the RW crazies take-over of the government was the Navy admiral!

[Captain Hilts]

5. As someone else here said GO NAVY, BEAT ARMY! nt

[JohnnyRingo]

6. I remember when Jack Murtha got back from a trip to Iraq

I think back in '03, he suddenly went from general supporter of the effort to complete anti war.
It was well known that Murtha was quite connected to high level field commanders, and it was assumed he was swayed by what he heard there from men like Fallon.

I imagine all but the polibureau in country feel different from Petraeus. I think he was placed in Iraq because of his loyalty.
Not to his country, but to George W Buxh.

I doubt someone like that would recieve a warm welcome from those who really do care about their nation or the soldiers.
...Like a real battlefield general.

[FightingIrish]

7. Bill Fallon was never an ass kisser.

Forty years ago I served on two NROTC midshipman cruises with Bill Fallon. Later we went through the Naval Aviation Training Command in Pensacola together. I never figured Fallon for a Navy career because he lacked the requisite facility for kissing superiors' butts. I actually thought he was a major screw-up. The David Petraeus he describes is the kind of officer that convinced me that a military carreer is not worth selling your soul for. The fact that this dirty linen is getting aired quite publicly tells me that there are tectonic clashes underway in our military.

[frogcycle]

9. indeed

I have been posting periodically that I bet there were such rumblings but that it would all be hush-hush until the time came to move.

Petraeus was selected specifically for his "management style" (ass kisser) by the defective moron at the top who responds only to ass kissing. He agreed to bush's "surge" strategy last fall and agreed to let it be passed off as his.

[calimary]

14. I bet you're spot on about this. It makes sense to me, even though I

know about as much about the military as you could fit on the head of a pin. Even so, it just seems psychologically correct, especially when you look at the track record and temperaments of the principals involved. After all, we've got george who only hears what he wants to hear, so all implementers farther down the food chain who don't play ball are flushed, replaced with yes-men and yes-women and rubber-stampers of all stripes. Also: ordinarily, isn't this all kept very quiet, very internal, very private among the closed world of the military hierarchy? This stuff just does not come out, because their job is to follow civilian leadership, to follow orders - up the sacred chain of command. Any misgivings? You keep 'em to yourself.

Which means the misgivings must have mushroomed into something so profound and overwhelming that it just can't be tamped down anymore, or closed in, or swallowed, or spun by these military folks. Evidently Admiral Fallon is one of those whose allegiance is to his men, the operational art (as Schwarzkopf once referenced), and the country he serves, trumps loyalty to any single overlord. I think the "tectonic clashes" you imagine are probably just what's going on. Stress fractures everywhere is what it sounds like to me. And more are opening up all the time. Very symptomatic of what's now being described as a "broken" military.

[provis99]

8. oh..saw the name Fallon and assumed it was comic Jimmy Fallon

Now an admiral saying this, thats much more impressive. He really swears like a sailor, so an admiral's rank really suits him.

[frogcycle]

10. another thread

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102x2988998

[illinoisprogressive]

11. Fighting irish, great story on knowing the guy. I honestly underestimated this guy

I thought he was just some croney ass wiper. boy, was I wrong. We are lucky to have him in their fighting the 'chickenshit" bushbot.

[Mojorabbit]

12. I find this

line from the article very interesting
"in a highly unusual political role for an officer who had not yet taken command of a war, Petraeus was installed in the office of Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, a Republican from Kentucky, in early February just before the Senate debated Bush's troop increase. According to a report in The Washington Post Feb. 7, senators were then approached on the floor and invited to go McConnell's office to hear Petraeus make the case for the surge policy."

[ClayZ]

13. K and R