Fallon to Go Over Iran?
According to Thomas P.M. Barnett, a former professor at the Naval War College, writing for Esquire Magazine, Adm. William “Fox” Fallon is likely to go before the end of this year. The reason: Iran.
the article in the magazine’s April issue predicts that if Fallon leaves his position at Central Command, “it may well mean that the president and vice president intend to take military action against Iran before the end of this year and don’t want a commander standing in their way.”
The article is written in an admiring fashion, praising Fallon as “a man of strategic brilliance” whose understanding of the tumultuous situation in Pakistan “is far more complex than anyone else’s.”
When asked about the article Admiral Fallon called it “poison pen stuff” that is “really disrespectful and ugly.”
However, it seems that ‘Fallon clearly cooperated with Barnett for the article, with the author accompanying the Centcom chief on trips to Egypt and Afghanistan over the past year. The article quotes Fallon as saying one day in Cairo that “I’m in hot water again” with the White House, apparently for telling Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak that the United States would not attack Iran.’
The idea is, basically, that Fallon opposes military action against Iran. He also disagreed with Bush on, say, the surge in Iraq. General David Petraeus and he are the military’s top commanders (officially Fallon is higher in rank of course), but Petraeus has more influence with Bush.
According to quite some people, the relationship between the two men isn’t all that. Fallon denies that publicly, of course, saying they talk to each other every day.
So – keep an eye on Fallon. If he goes, it’s possible that the US will launch a military strike against Iran. According to this article at least.
Personally I have to say that I find it a bit far-fetched. Why? Because the White House has stopped accusing Iran of just about everything wrong in the Middle East. There doesn’t seem to be an anti-Iran propaganda war being waged.
