Posted on 06/15/2007 10:02:30 AM PDT by Sub-Driver
Pace says he refused to quit voluntarily
By ROBERT BURNS, AP Military Writer 11 minutes ago
In his first public comments on the Bush administration's surprise decision to replace him as chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Marine Gen. Peter Pace disclosed that he had turned down an offer to voluntarily retire rather than be forced out.
To quit in wartime, he said, would be letting down the troops.
Pace, responding to a question from the audience after he spoke at the Joint Forces Staff College in Norfolk, Va., on Thursday evening, said he first heard that his expected nomination for a second two-year term was in jeopardy in mid-May. Defense Secretary Robert Gates on June 8 announced Pace was being replaced.
"One thing that was discussed was whether or not I should just voluntarily retire and take the issue off the table," Pace said, according to a transcript released Friday by his office at the Pentagon.
"I said I could not do that for one very fundamental reason," which is that no soldier or Marine in Iraq should "think — ever — that his chairman, whoever that person is, could have stayed in the battle and voluntarily walked off the battlefield.
"That is unacceptable as a leadership thing, in my mind," he added.
Pace, whose current term ends Oct. 1, said he intended to remain on the job until then. Navy Adm. Michael Mullen has been announced as Bush's choice to succeed Pace, who is the first Marine ever to hold the military's top post.
A Vietnam veteran, Pace has served in uniform for 40 years. That experience colored his decision to refuse to quit voluntarily.
(Excerpt) Read more at news.yahoo.com ...
Very good point. It also highlights the damage caused by allowing the Democrats to take control of Congress.
I like General Pace. But maybe he didn’t cater enough to President George W. Bush and failed to tell Bush how wonderful he is.
There are fewer in that category than you think. Any conservative who sits out an election to send a message is a moron and a democrat by default since their non-vote becomes one more vote the dems don’t have to counter.
YES.
General Pace is an inspiration. Gates is a Beltway sellout.
Yeah, that too!
Very possible. But there have been some defections because the hysteria is too much.
It’s a combination of two things the “big lie” (or in this case misconception) and the manipulation of emotions. These two things explain why the left is so successful and why so many are turning on the President.
I’m profoundly disappointed. I always thought we were the rational ones, calculating with logic. But I guess not. This is yet another in a long series of episodes that have opened my eyes to our failings.
Has the story that it was some Senator’s objections to his remarks about homosexuality were the primary reason he was not-renominated.
Wow, for reasons of sanity and the protection of hearing alone alone, the withdrawal was a wise choice.
And FReepers say Pres. Bush doesn’t care. :)
Bolton / Pace ‘08 ;-)
Yep.
Instead of having one hearing with Mullens, there will be TWO with Pace and his replacement. This doubles the damage instead of limiting it.
Besides, this guy’s a clean slate. Less material for our enemies to work with. They can try but they’d look pretty stupid. It’s the “Roberts” ploy, the stealth Chairman. Like it or not, the battlefield is heavily rigged in their favor. We have to play by their rules or we’ll lose.
Also this guy wouldn’t have much access to anything the scumbags can expose like Pace.
Moron
There are officers who deserve to be saluted and then there are officers who have to be saluted. General Pace is the former.
The Bush-Bot Store called. They’re running out of you.
Great point. This will continue and worsen. Bush has once again caved to the Dems, this time in advance. They will want more and more.
Bushbot? LOL. Look at my posts on Amnesty, NCLB, Firing Rummy, etc.
I criticize him when its deserved, like now. What I don’t do is try to undermine the war efforts like a buch of other a**holes around here have been doing for years.
Hey numbskull, if Gates called the shots on this, I’ll buy your Bot store for what it’s worth - - nothing.
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