Just how far did Bush have to search for "Yes Men" to replace Generals Casey & Abizaid?

[Faryn Balyncd]

Subtitle: "What can a frat boy President do to get respect from the guys at Central Command?"



As Bush sends another CentCom Commander to early retirement, how far does he have to search for a replacement?
Just a few weeks age Gen. John Abizaid, head of the Central Command, had this to say,

“I met with every divisional commander, General Casey, the corps commander, General Dempsey, we all talked together. And I said, in your professional opinion, if we were to bring in more American Troops now, does it add considerably to our ability to achieve success in Iraq? And "they all said no."

Since Gen. Abizaid's opinions did not mesh with the Bush agenda, he's history.

Replacements for Generals Abizaid and Casey

January 04, 2007 4:02 PM

ABC News' Martha Raddatz Reports: ABC News has learned that the president intends to nominate Admiral William J. Fallon to replace General John Abizaid at Central Command. The announcement is expected next week, before the president gives his Iraq strategy speech, according to US officials.

Officials also tell ABC that the replacement as MNF-I commander in Iraq (replacing Gen. George Casey) will be LTG David Petraeus. Though Casey was originally staying in position till June, he is expected to leave earlier than expected probably in the next few months.

“The president wants a clean sweep” an official told ABC News.

Fallon, who is in the Navy, is currently head of Pacific Command; he will be overseeing two ground wars, so the appointment is highly unusual....

http://blogs.abcnews.com/politicalradar/2007/01/replacements_fo.html

Our cowboy president never has seen eye to eye with actual combat officers:

Two former Marine Generals who both served as head of CentCom, Gen.Joseph Hoar and Gen. Anthony Zinni have been sharply critical of Bush policy from the beginning of the war.



Gen. Zinni, a Republican who, after his stint at CentCom served as part of the Bush administration (as a special assistant to Sec. of State Colin Powell for relations with Arab nations) before being fired by Bush because of his objections to the Iraq War, perhaps said it best:

““It might be interesting to wonder why all the generals see it the same way,
and all those that never fired a shot and are really hell-bent to go to war
see it a different way."

Marine Gen. Anthony Zinni

The American people have had their say.

Will the Democratic Congress say we've had enough?

[Warpy]

1. Only as far as that raving lunatic, Boykin

I imagine General "Let's convert all these damn heathens" Boykin will tell him just what he's expected to.

Military mutinies start at the top. I wonder if Stupid realizes that.

[babylonsister]

4. If mutinies start at the top, perhaps that's why all the 'big guns' are

leaving/retiring/being forced to retire. :think:

[benddem]

2. this is the first naval officer to head centcom

usually these commands are from the Combat Arms. They had to dig deep for this...and like Zinni said "guys who never fired a shot."

[Faryn Balyncd]

6. Perhaps he'll let the Navy fight both wars........

[Pirate Smile]

3. Everything I've heard is that Petraeus is very good. He sounds good

from listening to the audio book of Fiasco.

[IndianaGreen]

5. Putting the Navy in charge of CENTCOM is absolute idiocy!

Makes me wonder if Bush trusts his generals as much as Hitler did his, except for that lapdog Jodl.

[Imagevision]

7. Bush is firing replacing all key people, Powell even stated he was given fabricated intel to

feed to the American people when he did Bush's bidding for the Iraq invasion.

[pacalo]

8. Good post! I have a question...

For the picture of Bush in the military get-up, could someone please photoshop something similar, but a full-length body pose, with his camoflauge pants drooped down like this:

[sanskritwarrior]

9. Petraeus is a

Soldier's soldier and a combat vet. My old division commander, awesome awesome choice. Navy in charge of Centcom, now that's F$%^ed up right there.

Rumor among the grunts is that Abizaid is too friendly with the Mehdi army and Casey is an asshat that never listened to the grunts. Casey was a politician, a practicer of that old Pentagon art form of Kabuki theater where he pretended to be a great general on stage but sucked in reality.......Way too many like that.

I hope if Kerry was President and he still had troops in Iraq he would have sacked these two goobers.........

[sanskritwarrior]

10. One more point on a differing tangent

Abizaid and casey are getting sacked. That is the pure unvarnished truth. That is what happens in a war, they are being sacked because they did not accomplish the mission. People can hem and haw about the surge but the bottom line I believe is they are getting sacked because violence flared under their watch. I don't believe there is a war in the history of the world where a commander who fails to meet his objectives gets to keep his job. Remember we are talking soldiers, not Presidents....... :D

[caledesi]

11. Let me see...uh, "accomplish the mission?" What is that exactly?

Surge? At DU we don't use Bush* euphemisms...surge = escalate.

Violence flared up under their watch? Get real! Iraq, a sovereign country that didn't attack us, became violent when we, the invaders, occupied it.

Stop paying Halliburton et al. That wlll end the war. No profiteering. Hey, why didn't the Iraqis get hired for all these "projects?" They have lots of engineers who are unemployed. That would have been too easy. Oh wait, they are living in huts, right? :sarcasm:

Where did the wheel and mathmatics orignate? Oh wait, that is Iraq!

[caledesi]

12. Am I at DU or FR? They LOVE to talk about war and killin at FR. nt

[OregonBlue]

13. Does he want a Navy Admiral because the real end game is war with Iran and

oil shipping lanes?