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Title: 'Fox' Fallon Fired -- And we're f*cked...
Source:
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URL Source: http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article19517.htm
Published: Mar 12, 2008
Author: Justin Raimondo
Post Date: 2008-03-12 21:24:28 by richard9151
Keywords: None
Views: 499
Comments: 48
"...somebody has to take governments' place, and business seems to me to be a logical entity to do it." - David Rockefeller - Newsweek International, Feb 1 1999. "Government is big business, with the face of democracy."--Jim West "President George Bush held a Washinton dinner...for 2,000 of his closest friends...(it) was sponsored by the tobacco and oil industries. But the big bash was the one given by Vice President Dick Cheney....The guests were lobbyists for the nuclear power, natural gas and oil industries."--Toby Moore (Daily Express 24 May 2001) 12/03/08 "Antiwar" -- - "If, in the dying light of the Bush administration, we go to war with Iran," says the March Esquire, "it'll all come down to one man. If we do not go to war with Iran, it'll come down to the same man." The piece describes this top military figure as the last obstacle to the Bush administration's persistent push for war with Iran: "It's left to" him and him "alone … to argue that, as he told al-Jazeera last fall: 'This constant drumbeat of conflict … is not helpful and not useful. I expect that there will be no war, and that is what we ought to be working [for].'" That was Adm. William "Fox" Fallon speaking, top U.S. commander in the Middle East, last of the Vietnam vets in the high command, and, yes, the very same Adm. Fallon who has just submitted his resignation as head of Central Command. What makes this particularly ominous is that, according to former Defense Intelligence Agency analyst Patrick Lang, Fallon told him, upon taking over at Centcom, that war with Iran "isn't going to happen on my watch." Lang asked him how he thought he could stop it: "'I have options, you know,' Fallon responded, which Lang interpreted as implying Fallon would step down rather than follow orders he considers mistaken." Do I really need to draw you a picture to get you to imagine what's coming next? This is as clear a signal as any that the Bush administration intends to go out with a bang – one that will shake not only the Middle East but this country to its very foundations. Continued www.antiwar.com/justin/?articleid=12503 In a statement, Fallon hinted at the reason for his resignation: "Recent press reports suggesting a disconnect between my views and the president's policy objectives have become a distraction at a critical time and hamper efforts in the Centcom region. And although I don't believe there have ever been any differences about the objectives of our policy in the Central Command Area of Responsibility, the simple perception that there is makes it difficult for me to effectively serve America's interests there." What "efforts" is he hampering but the effort to drag us into another war? Fallon has long been a thorn in the administration's side: while in Egypt, on a tour of his Centcom command, he assured President Hosni Mubarak that there would be no attack on Iran, which leaked to the Egyptian media. Washington was livid. "I'm in hot water, again," he confided to Thomas P.M. Barnett, the Esquire journalist who accompanied him on his trip. He's been in hot water with administration hawks – including the president, wildest hawk of them all – before. Last fall, he was quoted by Pentagon insiders as calling Gen. David Petraeus an "ass-kissing little chickensh*t" for telling the president what he wanted to hear on Iraq and the "surge." Long an advocate of engagement with China as well as Iran, Fallon has been relentlessly attacked by the neocons as "soft and accommodating." After Fallon began reaching out to the Chinese, the response was delayed but vehement – and telling – when it came: "It was only after the Pentagon and Congress started realizing that their favorite 'programs of record' (i.e., weapons systems and major vehicle platforms) were threatened by such talks that the sh*t hit the fan. 'I blew my stack,' Fallon says. 'I told Rumsfeld, Just look at this sh*t. I go up to the Hill and I get three or four guys grabbing me and jerking me out of the aisle, all because somebody came up and told them that the sky was going to cave in.'" The military-industrial-neocon complex, as it were, has been working overtime to get him out of the way of their war plans, and this week they finally succeeded. Not that Fallon is all that surprised, I'll bet. Speaking freely to Barnett, he telegraphed his resignation: "Sitting in his Tampa headquarters office last fall, I asked Fallon if he considered the Centcom assignment to be the same career-capping job that it'd been for his predecessors. He just laughed and said, 'Career capping? How about career detonating?'" It's a detonation that will reverberate throughout the Middle East, prefiguring the mega-explosion to come. One can hardly imagine a clearer indication that the White House has made the decision to go to war with Iran . It's just a matter of when and how the administration can provoke an incident. That's why U.S. warships are patrolling the Lebanese coast; and why our warships are playing hide-and-go-seek with Iranian gunboats in the Gulf. It's the reason the Israel lobby has been beating the tom-toms for war, and the reason the anti-Fallon, Petraeus, has been so vocal about the Iranian roots of our Iraqi problem. With Fallon out of the way, the road to war – a regional conflagration that will make the invasion of Iraq seem like a holiday picnic – is cleared. Get ready for World War III. Responding to the spectacle of a failing presidential candidate offering the front-runner the second spot on the ticket, Barack Obama didn't confine himself to mocking Hillary's presumptuousness; he also attacked her judgment and specifically her foreign policy. He coupled a dig at her vote to approve the conquest of Iraq with her support for the Lobby's resolution, championed by Joe Lieberman, to target Iran's Republican Guard as a "terrorist group," which he characterized as "saber-rattling." The Lieberman resolution was clearly meant to give legal cover to the Bush administration if and when they order U.S. troops in Iraq to cross the border into Iran in hot pursuit of "terrorists," i.e., the Iranian military. We know, when push comes to shove, where Hillary stands on this. Obama's stance is less clear. We know he won't rule out military action against Iran, as he told the Chicago Tribune, yet his recent pronouncements – "I won't be browbeaten into launching a war that was not necessary," he said of the Clinton 3-in-the-morning attack ad – indicate opposition to the War Party's Iran project. If Obama is smart, he'll launch a preemptive strike against the idea of going to war with the Iranians – before the president acts. The antiwar movement had better get off its big, fat butt. If ever there was a time to step up to the plate, it is now. The firing of Fallon – clearly he was pressured to step down – raises the stakes considerably: it means the odds are we'll be at war just as the presidential campaign season reaches a dramatic crescendo on the Democratic side of the ledger, and at the moment Republican candidates for Congress begin to campaign in earnest. The antiwar movement can have an effect on the course of events, and, God willing, head Bush off at the pass, but only if we hit key pressure points on the body politic – Congress, and Obama-for-President headquarters. Don't bother with Hillary. She's hopeless on this issue and all other foreign policy questions. She votes, talks, and acts in concert with the Lobby, and we can count on her for one thing and one thing only: using this crisis to catapult herself and her circle into power. As for Obama – he is with us, instinctively, but he may shy away from taking a more definitive stand on account of bad advisers, and, perhaps, a fear of going out on a rather creaky and insubstantial political limb. The Lobby, after all, is not inclined to support him, and will go all out against him if he gets in its way. Obama needs to know that if he stands up to the War Party, the people are with him. After calling your congressional representatives and asking them what they intend to do to stop this madness, call Obama's Senate office. Be polite, be clear, and be brief. Let them know how you feel about the prospect of war with Iran, and tell them it's time for Obama to speak out loud and clear: (202) 224-2854. ~ Justin Raimondo
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#5. To: Brian S, aristeides, iconoclast, Elliott Jackalope, Arator (#4)
After calling your congressional representatives and asking them what they intend to do to stop this madness, call Obama's Senate office. Be polite, be clear, and be brief. Let them know how you feel about the prospect of war with Iran, and tell them it's time for Obama to speak out loud and clear: (202) 224-2854. good idea
'He will make Cheney look like Gandhi.' yes it does
Yes Yes Yes Yes, Not owned by the Israel Lobby that has a proven death choke hold over congress and Bush.
"Satan / Cheney in "08" Adm. Fallon seems to be made of sterner material than some as Bush fired him.
TOSsed.
Just when I thought there was no lower form of scum on planet earth than Bill Clinton ... there was Bush. Bush makes Billy-Bob look like an amateur. Bush has single-handedly destroyed the country and deserves the hanging I'm praying he gets.
And the men who loan money to governments, so called, for the purpose of enabling the latter to rob, enslave, and murder their people, are among the greatest villains that the world has ever seen. And they as much deserve to be hunted and killed (if they cannot otherwise be got rid of) as any slave traders, robbers, or pirates that ever lived. ... Lysander Spooner
We have not heard the last of the Admiral.
Success is relative. It is what we can make of the mess we have made of things. T. S. Eliot Not owned by the Israel Lobby that has a proven death choke hold over congress, Bush, McCain, and the Clintons. Vote for change in 2008.
Success is relative. It is what we can make of the mess we have made of things. T. S. Eliot McCain is Bush on steroids. For 2008, Obama for Pres, Webb for Veep, Fallon for Secy of Defense ... not Rumsfeld offense.
Success is relative. It is what we can make of the mess we have made of things. T. S. Eliot McCain is Dole on quaaludes ! They're all puppets and McCain doesn't appear electable now, and when the dirty laundry starts turning into muddy rags on the front page ... Hillary or Obama get seated. It's being choreographed ... and the only way McCain could get selected would be if the VP was groomed for the Presidency. I can't believe I'm even discussing presidential politics ... it's a complete waste of ones life !
And the men who loan money to governments, so called, for the purpose of enabling the latter to rob, enslave, and murder their people, are among the greatest villains that the world has ever seen. And they as much deserve to be hunted and killed (if they cannot otherwise be got rid of) as any slave traders, robbers, or pirates that ever lived. ... Lysander Spooner
This is the most important election in my long lifetime. Turn off your computer, your TV, pull the covers over your head, stay home in November, but that won't halt the decline of our once proud nation. Wake up and smell the decomposition. We do have a choice.
Success is relative. It is what we can make of the mess we have made of things. T. S. Eliot Wake up and smell the decomposition. Our once proud nation has never had justification for its pride, though I'll admit the tyranny wasn't as visible to white people in the past. Secondly, turn on your computer, race naked to the polls, vote 500 times, but that won't halt the decline of this once great nation that suffered a sense of false pride. The only choice Amerikans have is whether they'll have their shit sandwich on white bread or toast ! Gimme a fucking break ... people have been voting for a change every election in my lifetime. Jimmy Carter was a prime example of Ameri-cons voting for change ! Wake up and smell the feces !
And the men who loan money to governments, so called, for the purpose of enabling the latter to rob, enslave, and murder their people, are among the greatest villains that the world has ever seen. And they as much deserve to be hunted and killed (if they cannot otherwise be got rid of) as any slave traders, robbers, or pirates that ever lived. ... Lysander Spooner
I'f Fallon was just fired for not toeing the Israeli First line, what makes you think the power that selected Obama would embrace him?
They wont... Adm. Fallon is now persona non grata, no cushy jobs for him. He will be treated like a leper.
A tad more cynicism here and the oxygen will be exhausted.
Success is relative. It is what we can make of the mess we have made of things. T. S. Eliot There are two types of people when it comes to voters, there are the sheep, who are easily led and perfectly content to being fleeced every two years, then there are those dastardly cynics that dare ask questions. Fortunately we are the minority, if not this country might even still be a republic. How horrible.
I cling to the threads of American tradition. I vote for candidates instead of hiding out from phantoms. Obama is clearly not the Zionist candidate.
Success is relative. It is what we can make of the mess we have made of things. T. S. Eliot icon... OK, then from whence came two million dollars for Obama every day for the month of Feb???
What a laughable notion. You have the illusion of a choice. That is all.
A society grows rich by producing things…and saving money.
Hear, hear! But you're barely a minority. Almost 45% of the voting age population sat out the the last Presidential election. How's it working for yuh, guys?
Success is relative. It is what we can make of the mess we have made of things. T. S. Eliot "twenty million of us voted Perot years ago to show our disgust with those that are content to go along with the system."
One problem with your strategy; you suffer from the delusion that your vote matters. I actually believed Mayor Daley push JFK over the finish line, did you? God, that was 1960 and things have only gotten worse. Now I pray this dose of reality isn't brushed off as paranoia, because if you choose to remain open to voter fraud, I can prove my case.
Gimme a fucking break ... people have been voting for a change every election in my lifetime. Jimmy Carter was a prime example of Ameri-cons voting for change ! Wake up and smell the feces ! Well, just stay home and sharpen up your highly intellectual prose for your next four years of bellyaching.
Success is relative. It is what we can make of the mess we have made of things. T. S. Eliot The people in Ohio didn't sit out in 2004 and then ended up with the Blackwell/Diebold ticket which ensured another 4 years of the BushCheneyInc gang.
A society grows rich by producing things…and saving money.
Dropping out will surely fix things.
Success is relative. It is what we can make of the mess we have made of things. T. S. Eliot A better use of time than the pretense that this country hasn't been stolen from us.
A society grows rich by producing things…and saving money.
A thousand sheep can be herded and controlled by ONE herder and two smart dogs.
You didn't answer my questions. Did Daley push JFK over the finish line in Chicago in 1960?
We got rid of that little mouse DeWine in 2006 when he rejected our letters, emails, and phone calls on amnesty for illegals and we'll get rid of Voinovich in 2010 if he doesn't achieve brain life on this issue by then.
Success is relative. It is what we can make of the mess we have made of things. T. S. Eliot Still no answer?
I do not deny it. Unfortunately, we the people scream like banshees about voter fraud during an election year and then promptly go back to doing nothing about it for the next three years. The mechanics of voting in America is a total disaster ... from maintenance of voter roles right up to the craze for doing any ridiculous thing that comes down the pike that promises to give us the results before we go to bed on election day. Bazillions are spent on the horse race and peanuts on the track.
Success is relative. It is what we can make of the mess we have made of things. T. S. Eliot Well if it exists, how can you be sure your vote is counted?
A better use of time BTW, the reform of the archaic voting mechanics would be a good starting point cause for correcting your complaints ... if you can fit it into your very busy schedule.
Success is relative. It is what we can make of the mess we have made of things. T. S. Eliot I vote absentee on paper for starters. A piddling start I confess ... but we'll see how you guys react if/when a serious cleanup up the mess begins. Be forewarned, it will cost taxpayer money but hardly a fraction of what the campaigns are costing us in dollars and freedom. Other possible improvements ... shorter campaigns, OCR and/or mail-in ballots, picture ID's, and better more state of the art Boards of Election.
Success is relative. It is what we can make of the mess we have made of things. T. S. Eliot Love the debate, but I gotta get out of here. Catch you later.
Success is relative. It is what we can make of the mess we have made of things. T. S. Eliot How about voting on weekends, like the rest of the world???? I'm just being facetious... We live in parallel universes. In my world the System does everything it can to make it difficult to run for office, to vote (unless you're an illegal) and to unseat an incumbent (they're re-selected app. 95% of the time). In your world, the people have the power to remove a politician and THE agenda does NOT move forward with different pieces.
A reform I would like to see is to have members of the lower houses of our legislatures chosen by lot, like for our juries. The result would be a part of government having veto power over the rest that is made up of average citizens, rather than professional politicians or their appointees. Real checks and balances, unlike the simulacrum of checks and balances we have today. What's more, by virtue of the laws of statistics, every segment of the population would be proportionately represented in such a body. Ancient Athens had a much more radical version of this scheme. There, almost all of the government -- legislative, judicial, and legislative -- was chosen in this way. The only exceptions were: (1) the very highest executive officials (the 10 generals) and some financial offices requiring particular expertise; and (2) the assembly, the lower house of their legislature, which was even more representative, in that the whole political body, all adult male citizens, was entitled to attend. And this scheme lasted for some 200 years of independent Athenian democracy, followed by another 200+ years of semi- independence where Athens was a satellite first of Hellenistic monarchies and later of Rome, in which the democratic system was maintained (with some short oligarchic interludes). So what I suggest would not have to lead to disaster. Of course, it's hard to imagine circumstances under which the professional politicians who now rule us would agree to such a change.
To reason, indeed, he was not in the habit of attending. His mode of arguing, if it is to be so called, was one not uncommon among dull and stubborn persons, who are accustomed to be surrounded by their inferiors. He asserted a proposition; and, as often as wiser people ventured respectfully to show that it was erroneous, he asserted it again, in exactly the same words, and conceived that, by doing so, he at once disposed of all objections. - Macaulay, "History of England," Vol. 1, Chapter 6, on James II.
All he has done is continue in the proud tradition of many, many presidents. It would be hard for me, knowing what I do, to equate Bush with Lincoln as to which was worse. Not to mention Roosevelt, or, for that matter, the first Bush. The only difference is that the greed is greater and the need to restrain what people see is less. They are more open now, but not any more evil.
When a man who is honestly mistaken hears the truth, he will either quit being mistaken or cease to be honest. ++++ Attention, Shrub; A life of evil is ultimately a life of wretchedness.
The machines will be better rigged by then as Voinovich is proving to be quite the master's dog.
A society grows rich by producing things…and saving money.
I'm disgusted by the status quo too, Jethro. But I believe it can be changed and must be. I confess I'm like the kid that a got a crate of horseshit for Christmas but to paraphrase Ann Richards "I caint hep it ..
Success is relative. It is what we can make of the mess we have made of things. T. S. Eliot Hard sell ... but I like it a lot.
Success is relative. It is what we can make of the mess we have made of things. T. S. Eliot
Comments (46 - 48) not displayed.
Top • Page Up • Full Thread • Page Down • Bottom/LatestAs for Obama – he is with us, instinctively, but he may shy away from taking a more definitive stand on account of bad advisers, and, perhaps, a fear of going out on a rather creaky and insubstantial political limb. The Lobby, after all, is not inclined to support him, and will go all out against him if he gets in its way. Obama needs to know that if he stands up to the War Party, the people are with him.
U.S. conservative pundit Pat Buchanan, imagining presidential hopeful John McCain in the White House.
#6. To: Cynicom (#3)
Public action speaks volumes.
#7. To: Cynicom (#1)
Fallon for President.....
#8. To: tom007 (#7)
Not owned by the Israel Lobby that has a proven death choke hold over congress and Bush.
#9. To: richard9151 (#0)
www.libertypost.org/cgi-b....cgi?ArtNum=218910&Disp=0
#10. To: richard9151 (#0)
#11. To: Cynicom (#3)
He forced bush to fire him, my kind of man. Public action speaks volumes.
OBAMA/WEBB IN 2008
#12. To: tom007 (#7)
Not owned by the Israel Lobby that has a proven death choke hold over congress and Bush
OBAMA/WEBB IN 2008
#13. To: noone222 (#10)
Bush has single-handedly destroyed the country and deserves the hanging I'm praying he gets.
OBAMA/WEBB IN 2008
#14. To: iconoclast (#13)
McCain is Bush on steroids.
#15. To: noone222 (#14)
I can't believe I'm even discussing presidential politics ... it's a complete waste of ones life !
OBAMA/WEBB IN 2008
#16. To: iconoclast (#15)
Turn off your computer, your TV, pull the covers over your head, stay home in November, but that won't halt the decline of our once proud nation.
#17. To: iconoclast (#13)
For 2008, Obama for Pres, Webb for Veep, Fallon for Secy of Defense ... not Rumsfeld offense.
#18. To: Jethro Tull (#17)
I'f Fallon was just fired for not toeing the Israeli First line, what makes you think the power that selected Obama would embrace him?
#19. To: Jethro Tull, Cynicom (#17)
what makes you think the power that selected Obama would embrace him?
OBAMA/WEBB IN 2008
The perfect is the enemy of the good. Voltaire
#20. To: iconoclast, Jethro Tull (#19)
#21. To: Cynicom, Jethro Tull (#18)
what makes you think the power that selected Obama would embrace him?
OBAMA/WEBB IN 2008
The perfect is the enemy of the good. Voltaire
#22. To: iconoclast (#21)
Obama is clearly not the Zionist candidate.
#23. To: iconoclast (#15)
We do have a choice.
#24. To: Cynicom (#20)
Fortunately we are the minority,
OBAMA/WEBB IN 2008
The perfect is the enemy of the good. Voltaire
#25. To: iconoclast (#24)
#26. To: iconoclast (#21)
#27. To: noone222 (#16)
The only choice Amerikans have is whether they'll have their shit sandwich on white bread or toast !
OBAMA/WEBB IN 2008
The perfect is the enemy of the good. Voltaire
#28. To: iconoclast (#24)
#29. To: Jethro Tull (#26)
Now I pray this dose of reality isn't brushed off as paranoia, because if you choose to remain open to voter fraud, I can prove my case.
OBAMA/WEBB IN 2008
The perfect is the enemy of the good. Voltaire
#30. To: iconoclast (#27)
Well, just stay home
#31. To: angle (#30)
#32. To: iconoclast (#29)
#33. To: angle (#28)
The people in Ohio
OBAMA/WEBB IN 2008
The perfect is the enemy of the good. Voltaire
#34. To: iconoclast (#33)
#35. To: Jethro Tull (#32)
You didn't answer my questions. Did Daley push JFK over the finish line in Chicago in 1960?
OBAMA/WEBB IN 2008
The perfect is the enemy of the good. Voltaire
#36. To: iconoclast (#35)
#37. To: angle (#30)
(Edited)
Well, just stay home
OBAMA/WEBB IN 2008
The perfect is the enemy of the good. Voltaire
#38. To: Jethro Tull (#36)
Well if it exists, how can you be sure your vote is counted?
OBAMA/WEBB IN 2008
The perfect is the enemy of the good. Voltaire
#39. To: Jethro Tull, angle, Cynicom, All (#34)
OBAMA/WEBB IN 2008
The perfect is the enemy of the good. Voltaire
#40. To: iconoclast (#38)
Other possible improvements ... shorter campaigns, OCR and/or mail-in ballots, picture ID's, and better more state of the art Boards of Election.
#41. To: iconoclast (#38)
#42. To: noone222 (#10)
Bush has single-handedly destroyed the country and deserves the hanging I'm praying he gets.
#43. To: iconoclast (#33)
we'll get rid of Voinovich in 2010
#44. To: Jethro Tull (#40)
In your world, the people have the power to remove a politician and THE agenda does NOT move forward with different pieces.
OBAMA/WEBB IN 2008
The perfect is the enemy of the good. Voltaire
#45. To: aristeides (#41)
A reform I would like to see is to have members of the lower houses of our legislatures chosen by lot, like for our juries.
OBAMA/WEBB IN 2008
The perfect is the enemy of the good. Voltaire
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