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fontman
06-15-07, 03:21 PM
Gen. Peter Pace Speaks
By W. Thomas Smith Jr.
June 15, 2007

Last night, during a Q&A following remarks by Gen. Peter Pace at The Joint Forces Staff College in Norfolk, Virginia, the general was asked the following question:

"My question is about what many folks at the reception tonight viewed as the very disappointing news about your replacement as chairman. I wonder why you believe that is happening, and what are your thoughts about the process by which we choose the nation's top military uniformed officer?"

General Pace responds:

I will tell you the truth as I know it, and that is around the middle of May, within a day or two of the Secretary learning from certain members of Congress that there may be a problem to renominate me, he brought me in the office and sat me down and said "Pete, this is what's happening. I want to renominate you. I want you to know that this is what I'm beginning to hear, this is what I'm going to go do, this is how I'm going to go do it."

He went out and did exactly what he said on television, and exactly what he's been saying in his interviews, which is he went out and pulsed various members of Congress and he heard back from them the things that he said that he heard.

He and I sat down, and I said "I'm a Marine…If you want me to go forward with the confirmation process, I'm all for it."

I also told him that what he needed to do, in my opinion, was what was best for the institution, and whatever he and the president decided was going to be best for the institution was what Pete Pace was going to do. Oh and by the way, I can read the Constitution, which says the president gets to nominate and the Senate gets to confirm, or not, and neither one of those two things is going to happen, therefore I'm not staying.

One thing that was discussed was whether or not I should just voluntarily retire and take the issue off the table. I said I could not do that for one very fundamental reason and that is that PFC Pace in Baghdad should not 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.

So I elected not to submit my request for retirement until after it was publicly known that I was no longer going to be renominated.

That is very important to me. The other part that is important to me is personal. The first piece holds true for anybody in this position - anybody.

The other piece for me personally was that some 40 years ago I left some guys on the battlefield in Vietnam who lost their lives following 2nd Lt. Pace. And I promised myself then that I will serve this country until I was no longer needed - that it's not my decision. I need to be told that I'm done.

I've been told I'm done.

I will run through the finish line on 1 October, and when I run through the finish line I will have met the mission I set for myself.

jetdawgg
06-15-07, 03:47 PM
http://uglydemocrats.com/democrats/United-States/Hillary-Clinton/Hillary-Witch.jpg
http://www.uncorrelated.com/images/Reidcorrupt1.jpg

drumcorpssnare
06-15-07, 03:54 PM
At least Gen. Peter Pace stood up and spoke his mind, like a man. Harry Reid, on the other hand, is more like a ventriloquist dummy, who has Nancy Pelosi's hand stuck up his a$$!!!:evilgrin:
drumcorpssnare:usmc:

jetdawgg
06-15-07, 03:57 PM
It's my hand!!!!

http://www.liberalstreetfighter.com/ee/images/uploads/harry_reid.jpg

jetdawgg
06-15-07, 04:05 PM
http://www.shieldsnet.org/images/strange/dingy_harry_brain_small.jpg

FistFu68
06-15-07, 04:54 PM
:usmc: THEY DRIVE THE GOOD ONE'S OUT,AL'WAY'S HAVE;AL'WAY'S WILL:usmc:

OLE SARG
06-15-07, 06:40 PM
Again, dirty harry is an IDIOT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

SEMPER FI,

thedrifter
06-15-07, 06:52 PM
Pace says he declined to voluntarily retire
By Robert Burns - The Associated Press
Posted : Friday Jun 15, 2007 13:40:01 EDT

WASHINGTON — 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 President Bush’s choice to succeed Pace, who is the first Marine ever to hold the military’s top post.

The decision to drop Pace has fed the political debate in Washington over the Iraq war. On Thursday, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid caused a stir when he said Pace had failed in his job of providing Congress a candid assessment on the war. Democrats typically have shied from stinging comments about military officers, instead focusing criticism on Bush and administration policies in Iraq.

Asked for comment on Reid’s statement, a spokeswoman for Pace, Marine Col. Katie Haddock, said Pace “is focused on his duties as chairman and is not going to respond to press reports on who’s saying what. He will let 40 years of service speak for itself.”

A Vietnam veteran, Pace indicated in his Norfolk comments that his experience in that war colored his decision not to quit voluntarily.

“The other piece for me personally was that some 40 years ago, I left some guys on the battlefield in Vietnam who lost their lives following 2nd Lt. Pace,” he said. “And I promised myself then that I will serve this country until I was no longer needed — that it’s not my decision. I need to be told that I’m done.

“I’ve been told I’m done.

“I will run through the finish line on 1 October, and when I run through the finish line I will have met the mission I set for myself,” he said.

Pace was vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs during the run-up to the Iraq war and during the early years of a conflict that has dragged on far longer than the administration foresaw. In October 2005, he succeeded Air Force Gen. Richard Myers as Joint Chiefs chairman, and until recently had largely been spared the war-related criticism that senior civilian officials attracted.

The decision to sideline Pace came as a surprise, since Gates had previously indicated privately that he intended to recommend that the president re-nominate him. In his remarks in Norfolk, Pace confirmed that Gates had told him he preferred to keep him as chairman but in mid-May began to see signs of opposition on Capitol Hill.

When he announced the decision last Friday, Gates said that after consulting with members of the Senate, he concluded that sticking with Pace would risk a Senate confirmation struggle focusing on the Iraq War.

“It would be a backward-looking and very contentious process,” Gates said. At the same time, he made clear he had made his decision with reluctance, saying he wished it had not been necessary.

“I am no stranger to contentious confirmations, and I do not shrink from them,” Gates said. “However, I have decided that at this moment in our history, the nation, our men and women in uniform and General Pace himself would not be well served by a divisive ordeal. ...”

In his remarks in Norfolk, Pace said Gates had accurately portrayed what transpired.

“He brought me in the office and sat me down and said ‘Pete, this is what’s happening. I want to re-nominate you. I want you to know that this is what I’m beginning to hear, this is what I’m going to go do, this is how I’m going to go do it.”’

“He went out and did exactly what he said on television, and exactly what he’s been saying in his interviews, which is he went out and pulsed various members of Congress and he heard back from them the things that he said that he heard,” Pace said.

At that point, Pace said, he assured Gates that he was willing to go through even a contentious confirmation process.

“I also told him that what he needed to do, in my opinion, was what was best for the institution, and whatever he and the president decided was going to be best for the institution was what Pete Pace was going to do,” he said. “Oh and by the way, I can read the Constitution, which says the president gets to nominate and the Senate gets to confirm, or not, and neither one of those two things is going to happen, therefore I’m not staying.”

Ellie

semperfi170
06-15-07, 10:59 PM
The trouble with politicians is that more than anybody else the truth that they hear is so filtered through what little brains they have!! They just can't handle hearing the truth coming from an individual who has the integrity to speak it. I strongly believe that we all dhould sent e-mails to our respective senators and the white house expressing our disapointment in the way Generals Pace and Petraeus are being portrayed. To often we express our opinions here, but do not write to those who need to see and hear our opinions!

jetdawgg
06-16-07, 08:49 AM
Gunny, you are so correct there. I do write the politicos that represent me. We need to collectively do the same here responding to the display of ineptitude in Washington.

How do we win if we fire Marines like Gen Pace?

How can we let those homos get him fired? I bet they wrote to congress. They were offended by his words. We are the US Marines protecting America for 23 decades.

We can't lose to homos:usmc: What do they represent?

http://www.historicaldocuments.com/Marines1.jpg

thedrifter
06-16-07, 09:06 AM
President Turns his Back on "Perfect" Peter Pace

Friday , June 15, 2007
By Col. David Hunt

The pulling of the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs’ re-nomination of “Perfect” Peter Pace is just the latest in a series of cowardly acts we have been treated to by the Bush administration.

If there is anything good about it — and there ain’t much — it's that at least this time the secretary of defense is being straight with us about the reason for this rather embarrassing development.

“We did not want to dwell on the past,” is what the secretary of defense said, which in Washington jargon means, “we are crapping-in-our-pants-afraid of being held accountable for our actions, so we are not going to put this nomination forward.”

The president decided to run away. He did not stand and fight. It makes me want to yell, “Hey! Mr. President! We are in a war and your senior military guy, your numero uno Marine, needed some fire support and you did … NOT A DAMN THING? You turned your back on your guy? What is up with that?”

Traditionally, the Marines have never held the chairman job, since they’re considered subordinate to the Navy, so I was happy for the Marines when they finally did get the job. Unfortunately, the job went to the wrong Marine. I am not a fan of General Pace. I know the guy. He is a consummate politician, which is a very bad thing to be if you are also a soldier or Marine.

He served with bravery in Vietnam, but has since lost his way. The job should have gone to General Jim Jones, a Marine and former NATO Commander — and a true leader. Gen. Jones speaks his mind and knows how to fight. He would have a better choice by a mile, but even so, Pete Pace deserved and certainly earned more than he got from this president.

Pace was Rumsfeld’s deputy when the Department of Defense was saying things like, “It’s not an insurgency,” or “Go to war with the Army you have,” and, my all-time favorite, “The number of attacks are down, but the number of casualties are up.”

Pace held the Joint Chief position for the 18 months we spent doing the wrong things in Iraq, because we did no planning for the moments after we were handed an amazing victory by our great Marines and soldiers.

These things and others make four star General Pace the equivalent of one of the leaders of the “gang that couldn’t shoot straight.” He will correctly be identified with the failed policies that have lead to the chaos we witness everyday in both Iraq and Afghanistan. We have suffered the deaths and wounding of over 37,000 servicemen in Iraq so, I guess, it is more than appropriate that a few generals lose their jobs.

My problem with Pace being fired is that it was done for all the wrong reasons. But then, I guess, if you live by the political sword, you die by the political sword. The president let his guy down, and in doing so, let the rest of us down. It just so happens that in this case, it could not have happened to a better guy.

Ellie

thedrifter
06-16-07, 09:06 AM
Gen. Pace rejected retiring as Joint Chiefs chairman
By Robert Burns
ASSOCIATED PRESS
June 16, 2007

Marine Gen. Peter Pace said that he had turned down an offer to voluntarily retire rather than be forced out as chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

To quit in wartime, he said, would be letting down the troops.

Gen. Pace, responding to a question from the audience after he spoke at the Joint Forces Staff College in Norfolk on Thursday night, said he first heard that his expected nomination for a second two-year term was in jeopardy in mid-May.

Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates on June 8 announced Gen. 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," Gen. Pace said, according to a transcript released yesterday 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.

Gen. 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 President Bush's choice to succeed Gen. Pace, who is the first Marine ever to hold the military's top post.

A Vietnam veteran, Gen. Pace indicated in his Norfolk comments that his experience in that war colored his decision not to quit voluntarily.

"The other piece for me personally was that some 40 years ago I left some guys on the battlefield in Vietnam who lost their lives following Second Lieutenant Pace," he said. "And I promised myself then that I will serve this country until I was no longer needed -- that it's not my decision. I need to be told that I'm done.

"I've been told I'm done."

Gen. Pace was vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs during the run-up to the Iraq war. In October 2005 he succeeded Air Force Gen. Richard B. Myers as Joint Chiefs chairman, and until recently had largely been spared the war-related criticism that senior civilian officials attracted.

The decision to sideline Gen. Pace came as a surprise, since Mr. Gates had previously indicated privately that he intended to recommend that the president renominate him. In his remarks in Norfolk, Gen. Pace confirmed that Mr. Gates had told him he preferred to keep him as chairman but in mid-May began to see signs of opposition on Capitol Hill.

When he announced the decision June 8, Mr. Gates said that after consulting with members of the Senate he concluded that sticking with Gen. Pace would risk a Senate confirmation struggle focusing on the Iraq war.

"It would be a backward-looking and very contentious process," Mr. Gates said. At the same time, he made clear he had made his decision with reluctance, saying he wished it had not been necessary.

"I am no stranger to contentious confirmations, and I do not shrink from them," Mr. Gates said. "However, I have decided that at this moment in our history, the nation, our men and women in uniform and General Pace himself would not be well served by a divisive ordeal."

The White House yesterday praised Gen. Pace for his service.

"This is a man who thinks nothing of himself. He has always put the military first," White House spokeswoman Dana Perino said. "The president was very reluctant to accept the recommendation of the secretary of defense, but he respects [Mr. Gates] and agrees with his assessment."

Ellie

jetdawgg
06-16-07, 09:10 AM
I fully understand that Ge Pace was a politician. He is also a Marine and deserved more support than what was provided.

Imagine the country is more afraid of homos than they are afraid of Marines

WTF?

jetdawgg
06-16-07, 09:14 AM
http://www.talkingproud.us/ImagesEagle/AttacksonUS/MarineBarracksA.jpg
Marine Barracks Beruit 1983.

I don't want to present what the homos do....:usmc:

yellowwing
06-16-07, 09:34 AM
Oh please get off the Homos. They provide great theatre and comic relief. Who didn't think Harvey Fierstein was funny as hell in Independence Day? :banana:

Ophrah would only do 3 shows a week if she excluded Homos. And forget about Ellen Degeneres.

jetdawgg
06-16-07, 09:41 AM
Oh please get off the Homos. They provide great theatre and comic relief. Who didn't think Harvey Fierstein was funny as hell in Independence Day? :banana:

Ophrah would only do 3 shows a week if she excluded Homos. And forget about Ellen Degeneres.

True and if not for the Marines she would be doing them in another language

yellowwing
06-16-07, 09:45 AM
True and if not for the Marines she would be doing them in another language
That reminds me of Ronald Reagan. When he met with Gorby he told him of a troubling reocurring dream. "I keep dreaming of Red Square and large banners draping the square on all sides."

Gorby asked, "And what was on these banners?"

Reagan replied, "I don't know they were all in Chinese!" :D

jetdawgg
06-16-07, 09:51 AM
Yellowing, that was funny. About Ellen, she get a lot of Amex Commercials.

Marines get shot at, spit at and fired. It is time that America come back to earth or at least belong to Americans again

yellowwing
06-16-07, 09:59 AM
Spit at? I've heard nothing on that. There a 40 million Veterans ready to toe the line to prevent that from happening again.

jetdawgg
06-16-07, 10:01 AM
Spit at? I've heard nothing on that. There a 40 million Veterans ready to toe the line to prevent that from happening again.

I have heard something about that at the March in January '07. Some extremists from the Anti War side...

Don't know the veracity of it though.....

yellowwing
06-16-07, 10:06 AM
No, No, F*cking No. That will not happen again. Even if only 1/3rd support the War that is still 100 million that will stand tall and protect our dignity.

I'll bet you will be one of them if it comes to that.

jetdawgg
06-16-07, 10:10 AM
Wing, even if you are against the war, you should not spit at the troops, burn flags, etc. I am against the war and don't go to those measures.

It is just ridiculous that Marines face it like that.:usmc:

yellowwing
06-16-07, 10:12 AM
No, No, F*cking No. That will not happen again. Even if only 1/3rd support the War that is still 100 million that will stand tall and protect our dignity.

I'll bet you will be one of them if it comes to that.
As in you will stand tall and protect our Lads.

jetdawgg
06-17-07, 04:14 PM
http://i164.photobucket.com/albums/u17/jetdawgg/sc9P.gif

erased
06-17-07, 05:57 PM
Wing, even if you are against the war, you should not spit at the troops, burn flags, etc. I am against the war and don't go to those measures.

It is just ridiculous that Marines face it like that.:usmc:

Especially considering when Marines (and I know some who do) go to some of the anti-war protests. I'd give a "hippe" (Hey, Sarg) a good ass-whoopin' if I saw something like that.

Phantom Blooper
06-17-07, 07:15 PM
What the Marines do for America....



<HR style="COLOR: #ccccff" SIZE=1><!-- / icon and title --><!-- message -->http://www.talkingproud.us/ImagesEagle/AttacksonUS/MarineBarracksA.jpg
Marine Barracks Beruit 1983.

I don't want to present what the homos do....


Explain to me what this has to do with General Paces honorable service or this picture depicting Beirut has to do with this article?

:evilgrin:

jetdawgg
06-18-07, 09:05 AM
The homos wrote congress to get rid of Gen Pace.

Can you present a picture of what homos do?

I presented a photo of what Marines do for America. Marines like those in the picture. Marines like myself and Gen Pace. Marines that post here.

Catch on:usmc: