October 23, 2007

'We're Going To Lose You'

Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Michael Mullen is getting an earful from soldiers who are stressed by the 15/12 deployment schedule for the Iraq and Afghanistan wars.

"That year we're back, it's just not good enough," an Army captain told Mullen during a stop on a two-day tour of bases.

Army Times reports that the press withheld the soldiers' names so that they could speak freely in the Q&A session at Fort Sill in Oklahoma. The resounding message was that the military has to restore the 1:3 or 1:4 deployment schedule to give soldiers sufficient time to train and be with their families.

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Posted at 6:15 PM
Posted to: Afghanistan, Asia, Iran, Iraq, Michael Mullen, Middle East, Military
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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."

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Posted at 3:30 PM
Posted to: Iraq, Michael Mullen, Military, Peter Pace
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July 31, 2007

Joint Chiefs Nominee Praises Surge, Criticizes Iraqi Leaders

President Bush's two nominees to head the Joint Chiefs of Staff began their Senate confirmation hearings today, offering their assessments of the current situation in Iraq and their concerns about the war-torn country's future.

Admiral Michael Mullen, the president's nominee to replace current Joint Chiefs Chairman Peter Pace, both praised the success the troop surge has had in helping to secure the most volatile areas and criticized the Iraqi government for failing to make political progress in unifying the country.

Mullen, who currently heads naval operations, told the Armed Services Committee that "security is better, not great, but better." He also stressed that the United States needs "to bring as much pressure on" Iraqi political leaders "as we possibly can." His comments come one day after the Iraqi parliament left for a monthlong summer recess without taking votes on a number of crucial, U.S.-backed bills.

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Posted at 3:25 PM
Posted to: Michael Mullen
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