FORT MYER, Va.--''And so I say one last time, my name is Shinseki and I am a soldier--proud of it.''
With that trademark expression from an Army chief of staff who defined himself as a simple soldier, Gen. Eric K. Shinseki on Wednesday bade farewell to a career that spanned five decades, from the jungles of Vietnam, where combat cost him part of a foot, to the halls of the Pentagon, where he fought bureaucratic wars until his final hours as chief of staff.
The White House has not nominated a Shinseki successor, but officials let it be known the day before his retirement ceremony that it would be Peter Schoomaker, who retired from the Army in 2000. Never before has an Army chief of staff been chosen from the ranks of the retired.
In his parting remarks, Shinseki made no specific mention of his boss, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, with whom he had a sometimes tense relationship.
But Shinseki alluded to the tensions, which some have attributed to a belief by Rumsfeld that Army leaders resisted a basic principle of democracy: that they must answer to civilian authority.
''We understand that leadership is not an exclusive function of the uniformed services,'' Shinseki said to an audience that included members of Congress and military officers from countries across the globe. ''So when some suggest that we in the Army don't understand the importance of civilian control of the military, well, that's just not helpful--and it isn't true.
''The Army has always understood the primacy of civilian control,'' he added. ''In fact we are the ones who reinforce that principle with those other armies with whom we train all around the world. So to muddy the waters when important issues are at stake--issues of life and death--is a disservice to all those in and out of uniform who serve and lead so well.''
Shinseki is the only officer of Japanese descent to rise to the top post in the Army.
BRUSSELS – Brussels-based Nato headquarters may move to another member country following a cost-benefit analysis ordered by the US House of Representatives.In an amendment to the Nato defence budget, congressmen say that it may be more beneficial financially to move the Alliance headquarters to an alternative base.
In further cost-saving initiatives, defence ministers are currently considering the closure of smaller military headquarters across member states.
The move comes at a time when Belgium has fallen out of favour with the US on the politico-diplomatic front.
After joining Germany and France in a stance against the Iraqi conflict without UN approval, Belgium’s controversial law of universal competence further stressed relations.
US Secretary of State Colin Powell and former US President George Bush Senior were both targeted under the law with charges of crimes against humanity during the 1991 Gulf War.
Universal competence allows for the trial of a person or persons for war crimes, genocide and crimes against humanity — although jurisdiction had allowed for cases of foreign origin to be tried, the law was amended following US pressure so as to avoid it being used for political means.
Most recently, US army commander General Tommy Franks faced a series of war crimes allegations under the law, including the bombing of a market and non-action in the face of pillaging in Baghdad. The Belgian government stepped in and returned the case to the US to be dealt with domestically.