For US Navy Admiral William Fallon, the perception of a disagreement with US President George W. Bush's policies on Iran rather than an actual rift was reason enough to step down as the commander of US forces in the Middle East.
"Recent press reports suggesting a disconnect between my views and the president's policy objectives have become a distraction at a critical time and hamper efforts in the Centcom region," Fallon said in a statement on Tuesday in which he announced his resignation as head of US Central Command, arguably the most important post in the US military.
Fallon made a surprise visit to Baghdad yesterday after announcing his resignation, effective March 31.
An Esquire magazine article published last week described Fallon, 63, as being at odds with a president eager to go to war with Iran. Titled "The Man Between War and Peace," the article presented Fallon as a lone voice against taking military action to stop the Iranian nuclear program.
"I don't believe there have ever been any differences about the objectives of our policy in the Central Command area of responsibility," Fallon said in his statement, and he regretted "the simple perception that there is."
US Secretary of Defense Robert Gates told a Pentagon news conference that he had accepted Fallon's request to resign and retire, agreeing that the Iran issue had become a distraction. But Gates said repeatedly that he believed talk of Fallon opposing Bush on Iran was mistaken.
"I don't think that there really were differences at all," Gates said, adding that Fallon was not pressured to leave.
"He told me that, quote, `The current embarrassing situation, public perception of differences between my views and administration policy and the distraction this causes from the mission make this the right thing to do,' unquote," Gates told reporters.
Gates said he did not think it was the Esquire article alone that prompted Fallon to quit. Rather, Gates thought it was "a cumulative kind of thing" that he and Fallon had failed to put "behind us."
He also dismissed as "ridiculous" any notion that Fallon's departure signals the US was planning to go to war with Iran.
It is highly unusual for a senior commander to resign in wartime. Fallon took the post on March 16 last year, succeeding Army General John Abizaid, who retired after nearly four years in the job. Fallon was part of a new team of senior officials, including Gates, chosen by Bush to implement a revised Iraq war policy.
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