So far, I hold Adm. Mike Mullen, the new Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, in much higher regard than his predecessor, Gen. Peter Pace.
A few weeks ago, he banned the use of the phrase “Global War on Terror” in his office, and prohibited using it “in any future correspondence.” A few weeks before that, he demonstrated respect for reality by telling a congressional committee that the president’s “surge” policy had a short shelf-life — troop deployments could be maintained only through April 2008. In July, he acknowledged “there does not appear to be much political progress” in Iraq. In June, we learned Mullen didn’t approve of the “surge” policy from the outset.
And this week, Mullen apparently has rejected the Cheney worldview that has dominated Bush administration’s thinking for more than six years.
The new chairman, Adm. Mike Mullen, expressed deep concerns that the long counterinsurgency missions in Iraq and Afghanistan have so consumed the military that the Army and Marine Corps may be unprepared for a high-intensity war against a major adversary.
He rejected the counsel of those who might urge immediate attacks inside Iran to destroy nuclear installations or to stop the flow of explosives that end up as powerful roadside bombs in Iraq or Afghanistan, killing American troops.
With America at war in two Muslim countries, he said, attacking a third Islamic nation in the region “has extraordinary challenges and risks associated with it.” The military option, he said, should be a last resort.
I guess it’s only a matter of time before Limbaugh smears the Admiral as a “phony” soldier, but in the meantime, it’s refreshing to hear the Chairman of the JCS saying so many sensible things.
Mullen is definitely not on board with the Cheney/Lieberman/Kristol/Fox News worldview when it comes to Iran.
He pushed back against those who are calling for military action against Iran’s nuclear program, saying that diplomatic and economic pressure must take precedence.
The threat to American and allied troops from high-powered explosives from Iran, he said, should be countered by halting their flow into Iraq or Afghanistan across the borders, and with attacks on those bomb-making and bomb-planting cells inside Iraq or Afghanistan.
“That said, that doesn’t get at the source of it,” he acknowledged. Asked whether the American military should aim at sites inside Iran if intelligence indicated that such interdiction could halt the flow of those bombs, he said “the risks could be very, very high.”
“We’re in a conflict in two countries out there right now,” he added. “We have to be incredibly thoughtful about the potential of in fact getting into a conflict with a third country in that part of the world.”
After meeting with soldiers and marines in Iraq and Afghanistan in recent weeks, Admiral Mullen said: “They’re tired. They’ve been doing unbelievably great work for our country. And we need to make sure we take care of them and their families.”
Assessing the impact of long, repeated deployments for the ground forces in Iran and Afghanistan, he said, “The ground forces are not broken, but they are breakable.”
Should a Democratic president get elected next year, it’s reassuring to know he or she will have a capable JCS Chairman at the helm. Frankly, given his perspective, I’m amazed the White House let the Admiral get this promotion in the first place.