The 2008 Democratic Presidential ticket, burnished with a former U.S. Naval Admiral -- Admiral Fallon is more conciliating than I would like him to be, but...

Welcome back for more veep speculation! Last thread (two days ago) we considered the top Southern candidates. Averaging in those votes yielded a slightly different top 14 average vote-getters overall as the thread before that--namely, Fmr. Sen. Bob Graham (FL) dropped down a few spots, and Caroline Kennedy Schlossberg moved up into the top tier--so we'll consider this new top 14 in today's poll.

I'm thinking of running some more "break-out" polls in the coming days, alternating with the top 14 candidates, averaging in each day's votes as we go.

Please discuss any v.p. candidates in the comments. The correct format would be to simply state their name, unless you have further comments, in which case, "I believe ___ ___ should be Obama's v.p. running mate because..." "Oh my God, where's Johnny Politician?!" would be a bit alarmist, don't you think? I'm sure they're fine. I'm happy to hear all ideas, and of course I'm no official gatekeeper, so play nice.

(continued below the fold)

Welcome back for yet more Obama v.p. speculation. I know it can get annoying for non-addicts. But that's part of the point. If we're annoying enough, perhaps Obama will announce early, which I believe would be very good for his campaign.

I've set the threshold fairly low for defense and/or national security experience, ranging from just a short time on related House or Senate committees to unquestioned political expertise, from solid work on individual related issues to entire distinguished military careers.

I have only listed highlights of related experience; if you would like to get more specific in the comments in support of your favorites or against your least favorites, please feel free. I like most of the listed choices in the poll this time, and have included a few more names being mentioned recently for possible Obama running mates. I will note my reservations below the fold.

(continued below the fold)

On March 11, General William Fallon resigned as Commander of Central Command.  For some strange reason, the general believed that war with Iran was not a good idea.  Double-plus ungood in fact.  

Not only that, General Fallon was against the "pause", i.e., the delay in withdrawing American armed forces from Iraq.  Since Gen. Petreus held no such reservations (leave them there indefinitely!), it was he and not Fallon CentCom commander that was peddled out before the media at every opportunity.  

On March 11th many people thought that the last safeguard against war with Iran had been removed.  Today, with the promotion of Petreus to CentCom commander, there is nothing to stop war with Iran.  

Hulagu Khan may be one of the least known of the ancient Khan clan; his violent history was mostly overshadowed by the earlier adventures in conquest of his grandfather Genghis Khan, and those carried out by one of his four brothers, Kublai Khan. But that doesn’t make his reign of military terror any less bloody and torturous than that of his more infamous family members.

With that said Hulagu’s stature as top Mesopotamian conqueror is now under threat by a more contemporary, and yes, even more ruthless subjugator, one Richard B. Cheney. Don’t laugh; his name may not sound quite as malevolent as Khan, but deeds speak louder than mere words, and Mr. Cheney’s bloodlust and esurient thirst for power and material wealth more than make up for his innocuous sounding name.

Apparently, approval for retirement was denied. Mighty convenient for the Bush Administration, as it will mean he won't be testifying before Congress.

More below.

With the most fortunate timing of the Spitzer takedown, the following are obliterated mediawise:

the rather early resignation of Four-Star Admiral William Fallon, the head of US Central Command, CENTCOM, a primary breaking-agent in moves to act militarily against Iran;

Spitzer's actions in New York state to safeguard the right of women to safe, legal and accessible abortion should the U.S. Supreme Court succeed in banning abortion;

And more

There is a lot of (justifiable) anger on this site about Geraldine Ferraro's recent racist rantings.  While those rantings and the Clinton campaign's failure to respond to them are objectionable, the issue is largely will likely be forgotten in another news cycle or 2.  The bigger issue of McCain's purported CIC credentials will remain at the forefront long after Ferraro (thankfully) is forgotten.

Yesterday's departure of Adm. Fallon as CENTCOM chair serves as a reminder that there are serious disputes about the projection of American power in the world.  At best, Fallon's departure serves as the latest reminder that, for over 9 more months, we will still have a WH in which devotion to a narrow brand of orthodoxy is mandated.  At worst, that departure, could be a prelude to an attack on Iran.

As soon as Adm. Fallon's resignation become effective, he needs to be brought before either the House or the Senate Armed Services Committee.  Preferably, he should be brought before both committees.

His "resignation" today offers tangible evidence that they Cheneyites have gained the upper hand in the Iran debate.  There may not be much time left to stop what would likely be the most disastrous public policy decision in American history.  Other than the Cong Dems, it is diffcult to see at this point what institutional opposition remains to this lunacy.

This all comes back to a Presidential administration that thinks it knows more about war fighting than the men and women in uniform.  In May 2007, shortly after his confirmation as CENTCOM Commander, Inter Press Service wrote of Admiral William Fallon:

Fallon's refusal to support a further naval buildup in the Gulf reflected his firm opposition to an attack on Iran and an apparent readiness to put his career on the line to prevent it. A source who met privately with Fallon around the time of his confirmation hearing and who insists on anonymity quoted Fallon as saying that an attack on Iran "will not happen on my watch".

Asked how he could be sure, the source says, Fallon replied, "You know what choices I have. I'm a professional." Fallon said that he was not alone, according to the source, adding, "There are several of us trying to put the crazies back in the box."

Admiral "Fox" Fallon would be an interesting pick for Senator Obama's VP.  Choosing Admiral Fallon voids the Clinton Camp's "3 AM phone call" business and catapults Senator Obama into a position of overmatching national security parity with McCain (who, we might remind everybody, will be spending the next couple of weeks burnishing his naval legacy and beating the "Bomb Iran" drums in the Middle East).  

Having weathered Right-Winger excitement surrounding General Petraeus' testimony, and watched them call for the General to run for president, inviting this newly-retired Admiral into the race for the Whitehouse would be a darned fascinating thing.

And with Admiral Fallon bowing out March 31, it gives Obama about a month to chip into Clinton's Pennsylvania lead.  It'd make the April 22 Pennsylvania primary a veritable, um, "cakewalk."

Fallon quits:

WASHINGTON (AP) — The top U.S. military commander for the Middle East resigned Tuesday amid speculation about a rift over U.S. policy in Iran.

Defense Secretary Robert Gates said that Adm. William J. Fallon had asked for permission to retire and that Gates agreed. Gates said the decision, effective March 31, was entirely Fallon's and that Gates believed it was "the right thing to do."

Fallon was the subject of an article published last week in Esquire magazine that portrayed him as opposed to President Bush's Iran policy. It described Fallon as a lone voice against taking military action to stop the Iranian nuclear program.

Fallon issued a statement that discussed the "distraction" that press reports about his differences with the administration was creating:

Recent press reports suggesting a disconnect between my views and the President's policy objectives have become a distraction at a critical time and hamper efforts in the CENTCOM region. And although I don't believe there have ever been any differences about the objectives of our policy in the Central Command Area of Responsibility, the simple perception that there is makes it difficult for me to effectively serve America's interests there,

Fallon had held the position for less than a year, and no permanent replacement for him was announced.

Many progressives have fawned a bit over Fallon, which shows exactly how lowered out expectations have become in this eighth year of the Bush Administration. Make no mistake about it. While Fallon may have differences on the details, he is a willing and eager leader of the tip of the empire's spear, as noted in this from the Esquire interview:

And so Fallon, the good cop, may soon be unemployed because he's doing what a generation of young officers in the U. S. military are now openly complaining that their leaders didn't do on their behalf in the run-up to the war in Iraq: He's standing up to the commander in chief, whom he thinks is contemplating a strategically unsound war.

It's not that Fallon is risk averse--anything but. "When I look at the Middle East," he says late one recent night in Afghanistan, "I'd just as soon double down on the bet."

When Fallon is serious, his voice is feathery and he tends to speak in measured koans that, taken together, say, Have no fear. Let Washington be a tempest. Wherever I am is the calm center of the storm.

And Fallon is in no hurry to call Iran's hand on the nuclear question. He is as patient as the White House is impatient, as methodical as President Bush is mercurial, and simply has, as one aide put it, "other bright ideas about the region." Fallon is even more direct: In a part of the world with "five or six pots boiling over, our nation can't afford to be mesmerized by one problem."

And if it comes to war?

"Get serious," the admiral says. "These guys are ants. When the time comes, you crush them."

Fallon is a modern proconsul. And like the proconsuls of the imperial Roman period, calling him home because of disagreements about the details doesn't mean he objects to the overall project.

This is the Admiral Fallon who said that (roughly paraphrased) "as long as I am CENTCOM Commander, there will not be a U.S. attack on Iran."

In a piece entitled "Decision Time For US Over Iran Threat," the Guardian is reporting Friday that the International Atomic Energy Agency has stated that Iran has successfully installed 3000 centrifuges for enriching uranium, "enough to begin industrial-scale production of nuclear fuel and build a warhead within a year."

The installation of 3,000 fully-functioning centrifuges at Iran's enrichment plant at Natanz is a "red line" drawn by the US across which Washington had said it would not let Iran pass . . . .

The IAEA says the uranium being produced is only fuel grade (enriched to 4%) but the confirmation that Iran has reached the 3,000 centrifuge benchmark brings closer a moment of truth for the Bush administration, when it will have to choose between taking military action or abandoning its red line, and accepting Iran's technical mastery of uranium enrichment.

Whatever differences our government has with Iran, we do not have differences with our brothers in Iran, people who work hard, play by the rules, and are just like us. They are brothers and sisters in spirit and are our friends. Many Iranians, like much of the rest of the world, admire Americans and American culture. In order to prevent war with Iran, we must bury the hatchet with our brothers and sisters in that country and work together for the common goal of world peace and universal human brotherhood.

From the Wapo.

The U.S. military believes it has dealt devastating and perhaps irreversible blows to al-Qaeda in Iraq in recent months, leading some generals to advocate a declaration of victory over the group, which the Bush administration has long described as the most lethal U.S. adversary in Iraq.

Lt. Gen. Stanley McChrystal, head of the Joint Special Operations Command’s operations in Iraq, is the chief promoter of a victory declaration and believes that AQI has been all but eliminated, the military intelligence official said.

So can we bring our troops home now?

But Adm. William J. Fallon, the chief of U.S. Central Command, which oversees Iraq and the rest of the Middle East, is urging restraint, the official said. The military intelligence official, like others interviewed for this report, spoke on the condition of anonymity about Iraq assessments and strategy.

Apparently not.

As parts I through IV of "Neo-connecting the Dots to Iran" discussed, Congress can't really stop Mr. Bush from attacking Iran if that's what he really wants to do, and before any legal action against Bush reaches the Supreme Court, what's left of humanity may be living in mine shafts.  The major media have proven wholly incapable of acting as a power balancing fourth estate.  Can it really be that the only institution that can keep America from committing yet another devastating misapplication of military force is the military itself?

President Bush said:

"It's one thing to attack me. It's another thing to attack somebody like Gen. Petraeus."

Fine. I’ll take the bait, Mr. President. You are the problem. General Petraeus is an honorable soldier doing what he believes is best for the country. In this particular case, he’s running a surge.

Let’s forget, for a moment, that his line of thinking about surges is outside the top-brass mainstream, and concentrate on how you picked him to run this surge.

Flip it