When Admirals Attack General Petraeus

Man, they thought that Move.Org ad was bad.

From Think Progress:

In January, President Bush replaced Abizaid and Casey, who were “surge” skeptics, with Adm. William Fallon and Gen. David Petraeus. This week, Petraeus — in the first public hearings since taking on his new role — delivered his Iraq assessment to great media fanfare. But where was his boss, Admiral Fallon? Inter-Press Service suggests animosity between the two might be one reason for Fallon’s absence:

Fallon told Petraeus [in March] that he considered him to be “an ass-kissing little chickensh*t” 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.

The Washington Post reported this weekend that there is an internal military debate, described as “Armageddon,” brewing between Petraeus and Fallon because the two men have “profoundly different views of the U.S. role in Iraq.”

(more)

Earlier this year, Admiral Fallon helped kill a build up in the Persian Gulf aimed at Iran and has stated that an attack on Iran will not happen on his watch.

On the other hand, when Fallon spoke to Commonwealth Club of California on September 4, 2007, he said the surge was making progress and that Petraeus and his team were "working their heart out".

Of course, that was before he heard what Petreaus said to Congress.

VIDEO: Admiral Fallon speaks to Commonwealth Club of California (from last week).


Crossposted from Ice Station Tango
(featured in Mike's Blog Roundup, C&L)

TAGS: David Petraeus, Iran, Iraq War, William Fallon