Admiral Fallon, the latest American hero

In the tradition of George Washington, Smedley Butler and Dwight D. Eisenhower, we still have generals who will stand up to idiocy, tyranny and anti-democratic forces. What's truly scary is that those forces occupy the White House....

Iran Dissent Cost Fallon His Job

By Mark Thompson/Washington, TIME

Even once in awhile a military man achieves immortality by jumping onto a hand grenade to take the explosion and save his buddies' lives. That, essentially, is what Admiral William "Fox" Fallon, chief of U.S. Central Command, did on Tuesday. But the "grenade" that ended his 41-year military career was a fawning profile in the latest issue of Esquire magazine — an article that pitted him against President Bush, and one with whose author Fallon had cooperated. "He jumped," one Navy officer said, "on a hand grenade that he threw."

Fallon had held his command, which included Iraq and Afghanistan, for the past year. A Navy pilot, he liked to "push the envelope" both in the air and in his comments on U.S. policy in the region. In the April Esquire, Thomas Barnett, a former professor at the Naval War College, wrote that Fallon was "brazenly challenging" the Bush Administration's push to go to war with Iran, fighting "against what he saw as an ill-advised action." The lengthy article claimed that while President Bush wants war with Iran, "the admiral has urged restraint and diplomacy," adding, "Who will prevail, the president or the admiral?"

More here. This is no surprise. So what's next?

Fears of strike on Iran rise as admiral quits

By Chris Stephen, The Scotsman

THE head of the US forces in the Middle East abruptly resigned last night after a magazine claimed he was at odds with the Bush administration over its hardline policy on Iran.

In a move likely to sharpen concern that America may be planning military action against Tehran, Admiral William Fallon, head of central command, quit with immediate effect.

Last night he denied he was out of step with the White House, but said the "embarrassment" from the article made it impossible to do his job.

This article is here.