Fallon: Petraeus is "an ass-kissing little chickenshit" and added, "I hate people like that."

[Cruzan]

WASHINGTON, Sep 12 (IPS) - In sharp contrast to the lionisation of Gen. David Petraeus by members of the U.S. Congress during his testimony this week, Petraeus's superior, Admiral William Fallon, chief of the Central Command (CENTCOM), derided Petraeus as a sycophant during their first meeting in Baghdad last March, according to Pentagon sources familiar with reports of the meeting.

Fallon told Petraeus that he considered him to be "an ass-kissing little chickenshit" 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.

That extraordinarily contentious start of Fallon's mission to Baghdad led to more meetings marked by acute tension between the two commanders. Fallon went on develop his own alternative to Petraeus's recommendation for continued high levels of U.S. troops in Iraq during the summer.

The enmity between the two commanders became public knowledge when the Washington Post reported Sep. 9 on intense conflict within the administration over Iraq. The story quoted a senior official as saying that referring to "bad relations" between them is "the understatement of the century".

[...]

Fallon had a "visceral distaste" for what he regarded as Petraeus's sycophantic behaviour in general, which had deeper institutional roots, according to a military source familiar with his thinking.

Fallon is a veteran of 35 years in the Navy, operating in an institutional culture in which an officer is expected to make enemies in the process of advancement. "If you are Navy captain and don't have two or three enemies, you're not doing your job," says the source.

[...]

A crucial element of Petraeus's path of advancement in the Army, on the other hand, was through serving as an aide to senior generals. He was assistant executive officer to the Army Chief of Staff, Gen. Carl Vuono, and later executive assistant to the chairman of the Joint Chiefs, Gen. Henry Shelton. His experience taught him that cultivating senior officers is the key to success.

More

WaPo Sep. 9 article

[MikeNearMcChord]

1. Quote from Gene Hackman in Crimson Tide

I can't stand kiss-asses and won't abide save-asses.

[Selatius]

2. If Adm. Fallon is skeptical about Petraeus' objectivity, then we all have reason to worry.

Because the implication is he is putting his career above the lives and the service of the men and women in uniform. In an ideal world, the lives of the soldiers come first, not one's power lust.

[Skittles]

4. there is no implicaton

it's pretty obvious Petraeus serves bush and the GOP and not the troops or America

[Ian_rd]

16. When Petraeus wrote that Op-Ed in 2004 he was exercising the obvious knowledge that ...

the way to get rewarded/promoted by the Bush Administration is to 1) Tell him what he wants to hear, 2) Praise him in public, and 3) Give him whatever his little brain desires.

All businesses have high-ranking talentless persons who got there because they know how to brown-nose. The U.S. military is no different.

[Selatius]

27. That's true, but brown-nosing in the business world usually doesn't result in 3500 body bags either

The stakes in the military structure are higher than any corporate structure on Wall Street because it deals in life and death, not dollars and cents. Sure, you can come back from being the victim of corporate down-sizing or corporate out-sourcing, but you're not coming back from being a victim of war. Y'know, these folks campaigned in 2000 on the idea of running the White House like a business, and if this is what they believe is how businesses run, we're going to be stuck in a long nightmare that outlasts Bush.

[jmowreader]

32. Lesson to be learned from the 2000 campaign

If a candidate is running on the premise that he's going to "run government like a business," find out the candidate's track record in business.

George W. Bush bankrupted three Texas oil companies, then traded Sammy Sosa.

Requiring people to wear suits to Cabinet meetings doesn't count, Shrubby.

[Quixote1818]

3. Wow! Now how will Sean Hannity aproach this when it comes from annother Military "hero"

and not Move-On. :popcorn:

[NewJeffCT]

7. I know what he'll say

Fallon is bitter because he is not in Petraeus' place. They use that on many that have left the White House - O'Neill, Whitman, Clarke

[Quixote1818]

8. Didn't the White House have a hard time filling the position?

I doubt if Fallon would have touched it with a ten foot poll. Petraeus was one of the few people willing to be in charge of Iraq I thought.

[Cruzan]

9. What was particularly odd was not only was Fallon Navy in a

traditionally Army position (CentCom Commander), but he was already chief of Pacific Command, so was making a strictly lateral move.

[Olney Blue]

5. So Fallon is behind the MoveOn ad?

:evilgrin:

[in_cog_ni_to]

6. Oh my! Jim Webb said he was going to ask Fallon, Petraeus' BOSS, to come and testify before Congress

Whooooooeeeeeee! Will THAT be a hearing to watch!

It's so obvious he's nothing but a mouthpiece for the WH. Fallon will set the record straight on that!

[Purveyor]

10. Interesting stuff, indeed. Thank you for posting. K&R #4 n/t

[Quixote1818]

11. Kick

[roamer65]

12. Mike Malloy just reported that Adm Fallon was quoted as saying...

that an attack on Iran would not happen on his watch. Good on 'ya, Adm Fallon. :evilgrin:


I am 100% behind you!

[bdamomma]

15. it is good to hear, that there is someone out there who has a brain!

[napi21]

13. I had the feeling Adm. Fallon was his own man when he was

testifying at his confirmation hearing. This IS quite interesting though, that this actually came out in the press. I wonder who it came from? It's also interesting that Fallon is fighting the WH. Although I wouldn't put anything past Shrub, it doesn't seem realistic that he would replace Fallon so soon after appointment, and with so little time left in this admin.

Pay close attention to this, especially if Fallon testifies.

[roamer65]

14. Admiral William J. Fallon's biography...

http://www.navy.mil/navydata/bios/navybio.asp?bioID=109

[Quixote1818]

17. Kick for Sean Hannity!

[Quixote1818]

18. Kick for Rush Limbaugh. nt

[AzDar]

19. K & R

:kick:

[Luminous Animal]

20. It's a good thing that MoveOne didn't say it...

because then a Dem pol would have had to apologize.

[Nevernose]

21. Petraeus is "blood and guts" Patton all over again. Except worse.

Petraeus is "blood and guts" Patton all over again. Except worse.

My grandfather -- who not only won a silver star, a bronze star, and several purple hearts, but was in also in a position to know -- only rarely talked about "The War." One of the few specific opinions I ever got from him was, "Yeah, Blood and Guts Patton: HIS guts, and OUR blood."

I get the same feeling from people coming back from Iraq today, and in what he says and how he says it. I have problems believing him in my gut.

[Quixote1818]

22. Kick for Fox News!

[Quixote1818]

23. Kick for Lindsay Graham

[flyarm]

24. THANK YOU ADMIRAL FALLON!! AND THANKS FOR POSTING!! EOM

[Oilwellian]

25. And the plot thickens...pic of Fallon

Good for Fallon. Aren't there several other generals threatening to resign if given the order to attack Iran?

[nadinbrzezinski]

26. He is a naval aviator

and that might explain some of his distate for ass kissing

What is more, he served as a forward deployed fighter pilot and did some time in the Nam.

If he was a bubblehead, that is the classic attitude from bubble heads

Now Patreaus...

He graduated from the Point in '74 missing the Nam... and did not punch any combat card until 2003

Hmmm... just from readying and comparing bios, I can see where Fallon sees this guy as an asskisser.

Oh and that raises another question... when and why was Patraeus awarded his Bronze Star with a V device?

[Cruzan]

28. Petraeus's Bronze Star with V

In another thread someone said he earned it when he was a 2-star general commanding the 101st Airborne division in Iraq in 2003 and had to defend his command post when it came under attack in Najaf. No link was provided and the best I could dig up was this:

How much combat did the 101st see? How close were you to the action?

The 101st had sharp fights in three Shiite cities -- Najaf, Karbala, and Hilla -- and I witnessed each of those in detail, thanks to Gen. Petraeus's penchant for loitering in the front lines. He got close enough to have Iraqi machine gun fire stitch the ground next to our Humvee and, on one occasion, to have a U.S. Air Force bomb detonate behind us. There were other harrowing moments, including the helicopter flight into Iraq from Kuwait during the beginning of a monstrous sandstorm.

http://www.anarmyatdawn.com/companyofsoldiers/interview.htm

I'd much appreciate it if anyone could find out more, including the actual commendation/citation.

[Quixote1818]

29. Kick

[LSK]

30. K&R

[Carrieyazel]

31. I wonder if he calls him Betray Us when he's by himself

I called him that one day months ago, (playing on his name). When the ad came out this week I was pleasantly surprised.