Comments on: OPINION & EDITOR’S COMMENT: The slow rise and meteoric fall of Admiral “Fox” Fallon http://warincontext.org/2008/03/13/opinion-editors-comment-the-slow-rise-and-meteoric-fall-of-admiral-fox-fallon/ ... with attention to the unseen Fri, 10 Sep 2010 08:14:19 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.1 hourly 1 By: carol Elkins http://warincontext.org/2008/03/13/opinion-editors-comment-the-slow-rise-and-meteoric-fall-of-admiral-fox-fallon/comment-page-1/#comment-1510 carol Elkins Fri, 14 Mar 2008 14:23:07 +0000 http://warincontext.org/2008/03/13/opinion-editors-comment-the-slow-rise-and-meteoric-fall-of-admiral-fox-fallon/#comment-1510 Does the code, Duty/Honor/Country include lying under orders, as Powell has admitted he did? Fallon picked his time to resign, which is his only recourse, under the code. But not Powell. He went on and on, even though he had long since become a civilian. As such, the code, like everything else, can not be viewed in the lens of absolute right and wrong. A man can not fight for freedom if he himself is not able to be free. Does the code, Duty/Honor/Country include lying under orders, as Powell has admitted he did? Fallon picked his time to resign, which is his only recourse, under the code. But not Powell. He went on and on, even though he had long since become a civilian. As such, the code, like everything else, can not be viewed in the lens of absolute right and wrong. A man can not fight for freedom if he himself is not able to be free.

]]> By: Phil Sheehan http://warincontext.org/2008/03/13/opinion-editors-comment-the-slow-rise-and-meteoric-fall-of-admiral-fox-fallon/comment-page-1/#comment-1507 Phil Sheehan Thu, 13 Mar 2008 21:25:47 +0000 http://warincontext.org/2008/03/13/opinion-editors-comment-the-slow-rise-and-meteoric-fall-of-admiral-fox-fallon/#comment-1507 I agree. Fallon knew exactly what he was doing in that interview. His views were well-known, but had not been widely publicized, so there was no defensible public reason for Bush/Cheney to fire him. The interview put everything out in the open, where the Administration could no longer pretend it didn't know, or care. Why now, though? One set of possibilities is either he knew an Iran attack was off the table, and it was safe for him to leave; or he knew it was unavoidable, and he didn't want to be part of it. The primary lesson for an officer -- indeed, for any military person -- is the Duty/Honor/Country code. For many Americans, so few of whom have served or respect service, those words may ring hollow. For the Fallons (and may I suggest the Powells) of this country, they are solid, real, inviolable. I don't know what Fallon's political leanings are. He may not have completely decided himself. But it would not be out of the question, as you suggest, to see him as Secretary of State or Defense (or even as Vice-President?). I agree. Fallon knew exactly what he was doing in that interview. His views were well-known, but had not been widely publicized, so there was no defensible public reason for Bush/Cheney to fire him. The interview put everything out in the open, where the Administration could no longer pretend it didn’t know, or care.

Why now, though? One set of possibilities is either he knew an Iran attack was off the table, and it was safe for him to leave; or he knew it was unavoidable, and he didn’t want to be part of it.

The primary lesson for an officer — indeed, for any military person — is the Duty/Honor/Country code. For many Americans, so few of whom have served or respect service, those words may ring hollow. For the Fallons (and may I suggest the Powells) of this country, they are solid, real, inviolable.

I don’t know what Fallon’s political leanings are. He may not have completely decided himself. But it would not be out of the question, as you suggest, to see him as Secretary of State or Defense (or even as Vice-President?).

]]>