USA TODAY - Fallon resigns as Mideast military chief

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WASHINGTON
By Jim Michaels, USA TODAY

The top commander of U.S. forces in the Middle East abruptly announced his resignation Tuesday a week after the publication of a magazine article that described him as being at odds with the Bush administration's stance toward Iran.

In a profile in Esquire magazine, author Thomas P.M. Barnett described Adm. William Fallon as "brazenly" challenging the Bush administration and pushing back against a president "who trash-talks his way to World War III" with Iran.

Fallon denied a difference in policy, but called the news reports a distraction. "The simple perception that there is makes it difficult for me to effectively serve America's interests," Fallon said in a statement.

Some Democrats and defense experts say there was a clash of opinions, suggesting the administration is attempting to stifle dissent. "One of the lessons of the build up to the Iraq war is that the advice of our most senior military officers was too often ignored by the civilian leadership within the Bush administration," Democratic Sen. Jim Webb of Virginia, a former Marine and Navy secretary, said in a statement.

Fallon "has a pretty high profile," said William Cohen, President Clinton's Defense secretary and a Republican former senator. "Any time you become highly visible and highly quotable you're running certain risks."

In a statement, President Bush praised Fallon's service. Pentagon officials insist the departure was not engineered by the White House. Gates said he approved Fallon's request with reluctance.

Defense Secretary Robert Gates, who accepted Fallon's resignation, said Fallon didn't have policy differences with the administration. However, Gates said during a Pentagon news conference that he did not think the article alone was why Fallon resigned, adding that it was a "cumulative kind of thing."

VIDEO: Gates announces the resignation

Gates also said he and Fallon had failed to "put behind us" misperceptions that the two had serious policy differences.

It's "ridiculous" to think Fallon's resignation would increase the chances of war with Iran, Gates said.

The resignation leaves the command overseeing combat in Iraq and Afghanistan uncertain and comes as a crucial decision over Iraq troop levels is being resolved.

Gen. David Petraeus, the top U.S. commander in Iraq, is expected in Washington next month for a key discussion about a drawdown in troop levels in Iraq.

Both Petraeus and Gates have said they supported a temporary pause in troop withdrawals after the last of the 30,000 additional troops sent to Iraq last year depart. The pause would give time for commanders to assess if conditions change after the extra units depart.

As head of Central Command, Fallon oversees troop commitments from eastern Africa throughout central Asia, including Afghanistan.

Central Command's recommended troop levels for Iraq will still reflect Fallon's views, Gates said, because Fallon is not stepping down until the end of March.

Fallon, 63, was commander of the U.S. Pacific Command before taking his current job and has had a career that spanned 41 years, including a combat tour flying jets in Vietnam.

In appointing him to the Central Command post, Gates praised Fallon as a strategic thinker. The job had never gone to a Navy officer before.

Army Lt. Gen. Martin Dempsey, currently Central Command's deputy commander, will serve as acting commander until a permanent replacement can be named.

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