Fallon out at CENTCOM – Iran to heat back up?

Fallon has been an outspoken opponent of war with Iran, or anything close to it, and a recent Esquire article speculated that he wouldn’t serve out his term due to the degree of opposition to what many people believe is still a closely-held ultimately policy of the Bush Administration, or at least of Vice President Cheney and the neocons.

Indeed, Fallon references both the article itself, and his stance, in his resignation statement:

Admiral Fallon has requested that the Secretary of Defense allow him to step down as USCENTCOM Commander. He cited the disrespect of the President in a recent magazine article, the resulting embarrassment, perceptions of differences between his views and Administration Policies and the resulting distraction from CENTCOM missions.

“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,” said Fallon.

His actual statement invites a bit of parsing. It may well be true that Fallon doesn’t disagree with the aforementioned folks on policy objectives, at least not with the less nutbar members of BushCo.

But, the implementation of those policies? Means to achieving those policies? Different story, to be sure, and Fallon left that carefully untouched.