Posted on 06/14/2007 5:11:53 PM PDT by familyop
The Navy admiral tapped to become chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff said Wednesday he favors a diplomatic approach in dealing with Iran's pursuit of nuclear weapons, yet he offered few clues on how he would handle the war in Iraq.
Adm. Michael Mullen accused Iran, without being more specific, of giving aid to insurgent forces in Iraq and Afghanistan. Still he called diplomacy "the right path."
"I'm concerned about what Iran's doing in Iraq and Afghanistan, you know, broadly providing capability to which we are losing American soldiers on the ground and Marines on the ground, and I consider that not to be acceptable," he said.
The Navy must stay in the Persian Gulf to reassure allies and maintain its ability to act quickly in a crisis, he said.
"I think we will be there with a strong presence for a long time," he said, during a question-and-answer session at the Naval War College in Newport.
Mullen, 60, said little about Iraq while at the college and ducked a question about his strategy there during a brief news conference with reporters.
"I'm honored to be recommended to be nominated, and we'll just take it one step at a time," Mullen said.
Defense Secretary Robert Gates recommended Mullen for the chairman's seat after key lawmakers warned the Bush administration that Gen. Peter Pace would face a public grilling over the Iraq War if nominated for another term. Pace's departure means a largely new slate of military commanders will be responsible for a war that has killed more than 3,500 U.S. troops.
Democratic leaders in Congress say they want a nominee committed to changing the course of a war now in its fifth year. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid has warned the next chairman cannot be an advocate for a "failed policy."
During the forum, Mullen reiterated his support for the creation of a new strategy for U.S. maritime forces, a project that hasn't happened on a large scale since the end of the Cold War.
He wants to expand the Navy's fleet to more than 300 ships.
"You can't be in as many places in 200 ships that you can with 300 or 400," he said. "You got to be there to have the impact."
With nearly half of its 277 warships supporting missions in Afghanistan and Iraq, Mullen said the Navy faced a "very challenging time" and could not secure international seaways by itself. U.S. naval forces have shrunk 40 percent since the end of the Cold War, he added.
He said U.S. officials are working with allies abroad to create a naval alliance that would be based in ports around the world and respond quickly to problems.
"Nobody can do it alone," he said.
They're going to 'diplomacy' us to our deaths.
Not a good sign. Where is “Bull Halsey” when you need him?
Why would he even discuss a diplomatic solution? Not his job.
IMHO it's high time we stopped horsing around with the Iranian nutjobs. One American casualty caused by Iranian intervention in our Iraq or Afghanistan operations is one too many. We should inform the Mullahs and their insane president that if it happens again the full power of our naval and military forces in the Persian Gulf region will be brought to bear on Iranian military targets, including the Iranian nuclear installations that are supposedly being developed for "peaceful" purposes.
The only thing that radical Islam respects is superior armed force, and at this point in time our forces in the gulf are vastly superior to the Iranian forces. But that situation may not last indefinitely if Iran gets it's hands on nuclear weapons. so the time to lay down the law to the mullahs is now. That much ballyhooed revolution by pro-western Iranians we keep hearing about is never going to materialize in time to stop a nuclear ME war if we don't take steps to stop it ourselves. Even old Neville Chamberlain himself would say that we are allowing the mullahsway too much time to arm themselves with nuclear weapons and the missiles to deliver them.
An important fact to consider here is 2 U.S. Carrier battle groups in the gulf close to Iran. Normally that kind of presence makes enemies blink - not the Iranians. They are “dying” to pick a fight. So, George W. - lets give them one.
Didn’t we have over 1000 ships in our navy under Reagan???
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