The thanks of a grateful nation are in order for Adm. William J. Fallon, who retired yesterday after 41 years of distinguished service to his country.
Fallon served most recently as commander of US Central Command, where he oversaw American military operations in an area stretching from Morocco to Indonesia – including the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.
President Bush, commenting on the retirement, praised the admiral’s “honor, determination and commitment.” Indeed, he said, Fallon deserves “considerable credit” for American progress in those countries.
Sad to say, then, that he might have stayed on. But as he told Defense Secretary Robert Gates in his request to resign, he feared that his all-too-public policy differences with the administration were becoming “a distraction.”
One can see his point. In an interview last fall with Al Jazeera TV, for instance, Fallon went so far as to say that Washington’s “constant drumbeat of conflict” directed at Iran was “not helpful and not useful.”
Sadly, such a comment was a clear error in judgment – and one that had nothing to do with the merits of the argument.
The issue, rather, is the integrity of the chain of command, which gives the elected representatives of the people responsibility for making decisions of war and peace – and the military the duty to carry them out.
Fallon did exactly that – with distinction – for more than four decades.
Which is precisely why he owed himself a better exit.