October 01, 2007
Changing Of The Guard At The Joint Chiefs
With the departure of Gen. Peter Pace and installment of Adm. Michael Mullen as the new chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, the top leadership of the Iraq war now looks very different from 2003, when the initial invasion was launched.
Following former Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, former Joint Chiefs Chairman Richard Myers and retired Gen. John Abizaid, Pace this morning became, in the words of NPR's Tom Bowman, the "last of the senior Pentagon officials who helped plan and carry out the Iraq war" to leave the Defense Department. Back in June, Defense Secretary Robert Gates decided not to renominate Pace because he feared it would lead to a "backward-looking instead of forward-looking and contentious" confirmation hearing.
During his term as Joint Chiefs chairman, Pace largely escaped the scrutinizing eye of war skeptics in Washington, which made Gates' announcement something of a surprise. The most controversial aspect of Pace's tenure seems to have stemmed from his position on homosexuality and gays in the military, not the Iraq war.
Indeed, the strongest criticism lodged against Pace -- that he was too passive in the face of faulty leadership -- seems to say more about his superiors than his own judgment. "It goes back to, do you think you were effective in advising the secretary of Defense and the president," Pace's predecessor, Gen. Myers, told NPR last week. "I think the answer is yes in both our cases. I think we were trusted advisers. Does it mean that civilian authorities were always going to follow your advice? No, it does not."
In a farewell tribute to Pace this morning, President Bush alluded to the general's critics. "General Pete Pace always understood what's important. It wasn't titles received, or honors bestowed -- and it certainly was not the good graces of official Washington," Bush said. "What mattered most were the young men and women who serve our country and risk their lives for its honored cause."
In that same ceremony, Bush welcomed Mullen, who officially took over Pace's job today, by noting that he was working at the Pentagon when it was struck by an airplane on 9/11. "Admiral Mullen was there when war reached America's shore," Bush said, "and he brings the talent, vision and judgment needed to help us fight and win that war."
During his confirmation hearings, Mullen was critical of Iraq's political leaders but supportive of the surge strategy. The Senate approved his nomination in early August without a fight.
After being sworn in, Mullen indicated a forward-looking approach to the job. "The fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan will one day end. We must be ready for who and what comes after," he said. Mullen has expressed dismay at the toll the war has taken on the military, and he plans to visit Baghdad to assess the situation as one of his first orders of business.
The Washington Post has more on today's swearing-in ceremony, Agence France-Presse profiles the "pragmatic" Mullen and the New York Times analyzes the challenges he faces in taking over Pace's job.
Meanwhile, National Review editors are hoping Pace will not drop out of sight; in an editorial this morning, the board suggested that he run for retiring Sen. John Warner's (R) Senate seat in Virginia.
Posted at 3:30 PM
Posted to:
Iraq, Michael Mullen, Military, Peter Pace
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