CentCom Chief Fallon: Petraeus Is ‘An Ass-Kissing, Little Chickensh*t,’ ‘I Hate People Like That’

[babylonsister]

http://thinkprogress.org/2007/09/12/webb-fallon/

CentCom Chief Fallon: Petraeus Is ‘An Ass-Kissing, Little Chickensh*t,’ ‘I Hate People Like That’

During the Iraq war, the Central Command (CENTCOM) head — who leads U.S. operations in the entire Middle East region — and the Multinational Force Commander (MNF) have regularly testified together about the course of the war in Iraq.

Former-MNF Commander Gen. George Casey and his CENTCOM Commander Gen. John Abizaid constantly briefed Congress about the situation in Iraq and its regional effects. In at least four public hearings after Casey took office in 2004, the pair testified together:

Senate Armed Services <6/23/05>

House Armed Service <6/23/05>

House Armed Services <9/29/05>

Senate Armed Services <9/29/05>

In January, President Bush replaced Abizaid and Casey, who were “surge” skeptics, with Adm. William Fallon and Gen. David Petraeus. This week, Petraeus — first public hearings since taking on his new role — delivered his Iraq assessment to great media fanfare. But where was his boss, Admiral Fallon? Inter-Press Service suggests animosity between the two might be one reason for Fallon’s absence:

Fallon told Petraeus (in March) that he considered him to be “an ass-kissing little chickensh*t” 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.

The Washington Post reported this weekend that there is an internal military debate, described as “Armageddon,” brewing between Petraeus and Fallon because the two men have “profoundly different views of the U.S. role in Iraq.”

Sen. Jim Webb (D-VA) announced today that he will be asking Sen. Carl Levin (D-MI) to call Fallon to testify on “his views on the region.” Webb decried the lack of independence in Petraeus’s reporting, observing that there are “a lot of control factors going on that haven’t been visible” from the one-sided testimony of Petraeus:

WEBB: (T)here’s something of a kabuki going on right now. You know, the Petraeus report was brought in. On the one hand they’re calling it independent; on the other, General Petraeus and Ambassador Crocker, from my understanding, gave a one-hour exclusive interview to Fox News after their first day of testimony.

So it was a very narrow and focused two days of hearings…we need to hear from people like Admiral Fallon and others to get a sense of how the region is in play. … He was, by many accounts, questioning keeping these troop levels this high.

*****So I’m going to be recommending to Senator Levin that we get Admiral Fallon in and get his views on the region.

[ShortnFiery]

1. Somehow I get the impression that the truly honorable Admiral Fallon will soon retire. nt

[babylonsister]

3. I LOVE that Webb's going to ask him to testify! The truth would be so

refreshing!

[madrchsod]

2. oooh ...would`t that be nice?

maybe someone will restore the creditability of our military?

[kenny blankenship]

4. I guess we should demand that the Repukes denounce Admiral Fallon?

This is a hell of a lot worse than MoveOn.org calling Petraeus "Betray-us".

[daninthemoon]

5. Can/will Fallon be called? Pretty interesting exchange with

Betraus, if true.

[Joe for Clark]

6. That would be great. I really think Fallon is a very good officer.

I think very highly of him.

Joe

[Dr.Phool]

7. Fallon? Aint he with MoveOn?

[superkia]

8. Maybe moveons ad should have been “an ass-kissing little chickensh*t”

and then it would have been accepted. I would like to know Fallons thoughts on the moveon ad?

[0rganism]

9. Sen. Webb sure makes this interesting

Webb's got the background to understand whether a military man is defending the nation and upholding the constitution or playing footsie with the war profiteers and covering for corruption. I'm looking forward to more from him.

[indepat]

10. Did Admiral Fallon say that: did he really say he considered Betraeus "an ass-kissing

little chickensh*t"? adding "I hate people like that." God, that's beautiful: a lot of us needed that breath of fresh air to remove some of the stench of chickenshit.

[babylonsister]

11. I don't think ThinkProgress would have used quotations otherwise, so

I'm thinking he DID say it. Yes, I needed some fresh air, too!

[Cha]

12. And Code Pink had the audacity

to refer to him as "betrayus"! Shame on them! :sarcasm: :sarcasm:

[autorank]

13. Value added item! Think Progress is excellent and so are you! K*R

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

14. Fallon needs to just shut up and stop embarassing the dems.

He's just handing the republicans ammunition when he disparages Petraeus like that.

It's very immature and shrill.

[Binka]

16. Jesus Is That You Rush?

Bill Fallon called the chicken shit what he is. Immature my ass. Welcome to ignore BTW this has got to be one of the lamest posts I have EVER seen on DU.

[Jacobin]

18. He's been at this for a while

:eyes:

[Jacobin]

20. b b b but we CAN'T say Betrayus!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

cause cause cause, its its its DISRESPECTFUL of a GENERAL and all......

I hereby formally move the DU community to refer to the general as he is referred to by the CENTCOM commander: 'CHICKENSHIT'. That way, we will be using military parlance

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

19. LOL

[babylonsister]

21. I believe Bornaginhooligan has his tongue firmly planted in his cheek,

Binka. It's his twisted humor that I like. :silly: Unless he tells me differently.

[KamaAina]

23. That's why we have this handy-dandy sarcasm thingie

:sarcasm:

just to make sure people don't take that kind of stuff seriously.

And if it was serious, we also have this: :scared:

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

25. Oh noooo, I wasn't sarcastic one bit.

Nosiree. Not even a tiny little smidgeon of sarcasm. I don't know what you're thinking. Nuh uh.

[babylonsister]

26. See, that's what I thought!

:spank: :spank: :spank: BAD Bornaginhooligan! Actually, your name says it all!

[bunkerbuster1]

38. y'know, I hate those "sarcasm" emoticons

although I sometimes admit I don't get the sarcasm right away myself, and I know I've misled a few perfectly decent DUers myself.

Still, I refuse to use an emoticon; if people aren't getting it, it's my fault. Well, mostly.

[gratuitous]

17. Absolutely, and who does Fallon think he is, anyway?

Because David Petraeus is a fine man of honesty and integrity who has rendered valua-valua-valua-valuable s-s-s-s-s-s-s-service (buzz, click) to the country.

(Sorry, my Republicotron seems to be skipping.)

[Truth2Tell]

32. Admiral Fallon is a paper tiger.

I think all Democrats should apologize on his behalf.

[baby_mouse]

33. Shrill.

Shrill. I keep hearing that word.

[bunkerbuster1]

37. And Not Serious.

And shrill, oh, so very shrill, indeedy.

[Buns_of_Fire]

15. Pretty soon, we're going to need a program

I mean, how many ass-kissing little chickensh*ts ARE there in Washington, anyway? Many, I believe. So when we refer to the ass-kissing little chickensh*t in the generic, won't it be confusing to everyone else? WHICH ass-kissing little chickensh*t are we referring to at any one time? What if we have to refer to TWO ass-kissing little chickensh*ts in the same sentence?

Getcher program here! Can't tell the ass-kissing little chickensh*ts without a program!

Admiral Fallon has a way with words, he does. :thumbsup:

[babylonsister]

22. Put me on the list for the program please!

:thumbsup:

[ProfessorGAC]

39. It Would Be A Shorter List. . .

. . .if you simply listed those who weren't. Just trying to make the job simpler!
The Professor

[verse18]

24. OK, where are ALL those DUers

who poo-pooed MoveOn's ad? Why aren't they here denouncing the Admiral's statement? Where is the outrage now?

edited-wrong rank

[Jacobin]

27. Kicking and waiting for those horrified DUers!!

[ProSense]

28. Why, is this suppose to justify

MoveOn's ill-timed and silly ad?

Admiral Fallon has been critical of Bush's policy.

If you ask me, MoveOn should have spent the 70,000 on an ad condemning Bush and the Republicans in Congress. Petraeus' involvement in this is practically over, that is until MoveOn did exactly what Bush hoped: play up Petraeus the pawn and put his face on the policy so that Bush can hide behind him. Petraeus can't end the war. It's still on Bush and Congress.


edited to delete word in title and for clarity.

[Joe for Clark]

29. Move on sure did one thing - they laid down a gauntlet -

Maybe their words weren't the best, well chosen.

But what words are there really to do that?

They did ok - all considered.

[Jacobin]

35. What I think some of us were suggesting is:

That those who think it was 'silly' for the left to name-call this sycophantic goober who Bush is hiding behind to promote his escalation, got 'out-name-called' by Petraeus' boss, and someone who clearly knows him very well.

To further attempt to explain the obvious, it made many of us believe that the mild parody of Petraeus by MoveOn was nothing compared to what those who know him think.

Does that make any sense to you?

[provis99]

30. this is an extremely dubious story

first of all, the source is third hand, from an anonymous Pentagon buddy, apparently, who heard scuttlebutt about what the Admiral might have said. Second, it was run in the Inter-Press Service an outfit with an axe to grind against Western nations, not exactly a top flight bastion of journalist integrity. Thirdly, it was bylined by conspiracy nut and burned out 60's radical Gareth Porter.

Unless someone's got a link to another place where it was reported, from a different news agency, I call bullshit on this story.

[Phrogman]

31. I agree, an admiral wouldn't say that in public or to the press.

e0m

[screembloodymurder]

36. Not really.

Ass-kissing is what's expected and rewarded by this administration.

[Ian_rd]

34. "Ass-kissing little Chickenshit?" Are you sure he wasn't talking about Bush? (nt)