As Pace Exits, Critics Attack His War Leadership

[thedrifter]

As Pace Exits, Critics Attack His War Leadership

by Tom Bowman

NPR.org, September 26, 2007 · The last of the senior Pentagon officials who helped plan and carry out the Iraq war is finishing up his last week on the job.

Marine Corps Gen. Peter Pace was not re-nominated for a second term as chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, becoming one of only a few people in decades who failed to get an extended term.

His critics say Pace was too compliant and passive under his former boss, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld. Pace's supporters say the combat veteran of Vietnam was a loyal officer, unfairly tossed aside because of politics.

'A Spectator at a Train Wreck'

With the war heading into its fifth year, high levels of American troops remaining at least through 2008, and no sign of reconciliation among Iraqi leaders, Pace was recently asked whether the invasion was a good idea.

"I absolutely do, absolutely do, absolutely do," he said. "Is it frustrating that they aren't farther along as we are 230 years into our existence? Sure."

Frustration is the word critics use to describe Pace. He was the No. 2 officer when U.S. troops invaded Iraq in 2003. Two years later, Pace became the top military adviser to President Bush.

"History will not be kind to Peter Pace," says retired Army Maj. Gen. Robert Scales, a Vietnam veteran who once headed the Army War College. "The war changed around him. The character of the war changed substantially on his watch."

Andrew Bacevich, a retired Army officer and professor at Boston University, is even more harsh.

"I think history will remember Gen. Pace as being a spectator at a train wreck," he says.

Bacevich says either Pace gave bad advice or his good advice wasn't heeded.

"But it's impossible to make the case that Pace as vice chairman, then chairman [of the Joint Chiefs of Staff], has been effective on military matters," says Bacevich.

Defending Pace's War Advice

The war began to change under Pace's predecessor, Gen. Richard Myers. Myers says that, in private, he and Pace offered their best military advice.

"It goes back to, do you think you were effective in advising the secretary of Defense and the president," Myers says. "Were they listening, and were you trusted advisers? I think the answer is yes in both our cases. I think we were trusted advisers. Does it mean that civilian authorities were always going to follow your advice? No, it does not."

Myers bristles at the fact that Pace was not re-nominated for a second term. Defense Secretary Robert Gates told Pace he did not have enough support in the Senate. Myers says that smacks of politics, not performance.

"You know, if you're not satisfied with the performance of a chairman or any senior officer, fire him," says Myers. "But that wasn't the case here. I think it was done in a way that further politicized the office of the chairman. And that's a very dangerous trend for this country."

War Decisions and Assumptions

Pace is not giving interviews. At a Pentagon press conference last week, Pace was asked about some the decisions that were made, such as disbanding the Iraqi army, now widely seen as one of the greatest blunders of the war.

"First of all, the Iraqi army was not disbanded. It disintegrated," Pace said. "If I knew the Iraqi army was not going to be available, then I would have made a different recommendation about the total size of the troops going in."

It's not entirely true to say that the Iraqi army "disintegrated." Thousands of Iraqi soldiers came back looking for work. Myers says that in hindsight, the Americans should have found jobs for many more of those Iraqis.

And Pace also admits to shortcomings.

"So were there errors in assumption? I certainly made the error of assuming the Iraqi army would be there," Pace said. "In retrospect, you say you wish you knew. But you didn't know on the way in."

Retired Marine Maj. Gen. Tom Wilkerson says there were many more assumptions — such as how American troops would be received by Iraqis or how Iraqi money would rebuild the country.

"It would appear that almost 100 percent of them didn't come to pass," says Wilkerson.

Rumsfeld's Vision to Blame?

Wilkerson says the real tragedy is that there was no clear thinking about what would happen if those assumptions turned out to be wrong.

As violence increased in Iraq, there were some calls for more American troops to secure the population. Rumsfeld continued to refuse. Wilkerson says that only after Rumsfeld left were U.S. troop levels increased and a new counterinsurgency strategy created.

"They never looked at it at all until it hit them in the face," Wilkerson says.

Pace has his defenders — among them, retired Army Gen. Barry McCaffrey, who has offered blistering criticism of how the war has been managed. He points to Pace as a young officer fighting bravely in the battle of Hue City during the Vietnam War.

McCaffrey says Pace is a man who is loyal and honorable, who cares about the troops. He says the real culprit is the man at the Pentagon who made the final decisions about Iraq: Donald Rumsfeld.

"Mr. Rumsfeld, with his unbelievable arrogance and bad judgment, has put the country in a position of tremendous strategic peril," says McCaffrey.

How Far Can Officers Challenge Civilian Leaders?

The state of the war in Iraq, the blunders and the seeming silence of top officers has led to a serious debate inside the military: What is the role of senior uniformed leaders? Should they be more vocal, perhaps more unvarnished before Congress? Should they go so far as to air their differences of opinion in newspaper op-ed pieces before a final decision is made?

For his part, McCaffrey says that senior officers must be independent advisers, not ones who merely echo their political masters.

"When testifying before Congress, when Congress says, 'General or admiral, give me your personal judgment,' they're supposed to give their personal judgment, not just mindlessly support Mr. Rumsfeld's bad thinking," McCaffrey says.

McCaffrey says Pace "was right in the middle of that painful situation."

Gen. Scales says the debate includes a proper role model for a senior officer.

"Colin Powell was far more assertive, far more aggressive and resolute in pushing his views on national security," says Scales. "The consensus is that Peter Pace was the opposite."

A few days ago, the pain of leaving the top military job was evident as Pace spoke to enlisted soldiers and Marines at the Pentagon. His voice broke as he recalled the friends he lost in Vietnam and the visits he will no longer make to troops in combat.

"I'm not sad that I'm not going to be chairman anymore, as great an honor as that is," Pace said. "I'm sad because I won't be able to put the uniform on and, on occasion, get out on the battlefield and hug my fellow service members, and tell them I love them, and thank them for what they are doing for their country."

Pace will step down Monday at a departure ceremony at Fort Myer, Va., a graceful 19th-century Army base that borders Arlington National Cemetery. Among those in attendance will be his fellow Marines from Vietnam, survivors of the second platoon of Golf Company.

Ellie

[thedrifter]

General Pace repeats view that gay sex immoral
By ANNE FLAHERTY, Associated Press Writer


Gen. Peter Pace, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, caused a stir at a Senate hearing Wednesday when he repeated his view that gay sex is immoral and should not be condoned by the military.

Pace, who retires next week, said he was seeking to clarify similar remarks he made in spring, which he said were misreported.

"Are there wonderful Americans who happen to be homosexual serving in the military? Yes," he told the Senate Appropriations Committee during a hearing focused on the Pentagon's 2008 war spending request.

"We need to be very precise then, about what I said wearing my stars and being very conscious of it," he added. "And that is, very simply, that we should respect those who want to serve the nation but not through the law of the land, condone activity that, in my upbringing, is counter to God's law."

Anti-war protesters sitting behind Pace jeered the four-star general's remarks with some shouting, "Bigot!" That led Committee Chairman Sen. Robert Byrd, D-W.Va., to abruptly adjourn the hearing and seal off the doors.

The hearing resumed about five minutes later in which Pace said he would be supportive of efforts to revisit the Pentagon's policy so long as it didn't violate his belief that sex should be restricted to a married heterosexual couple.

"I would be very willing and able and supportive" to changes to the policy "to continue to allow the homosexual community to contribute to the nation without condoning what I believe to be activity - whether it to be heterosexual or homosexual - that in my upbringing is not right," Pace said.

Pace's lengthy answer on gays was prodded by Sen. Tom Harkin, who said he found Pace's previous remarks as "very hurtful" and "very demoralizing" to homosexuals serving in the military.

In March, the Chicago Tribune reported that Pace said in a wide-ranging interview: "I do not believe the United States is well served by a policy that says it is OK to be immoral in any way."

Harkin, D-Iowa, said he wanted to give Pace a chance to amend his remarks in light of his retirement.

"It's a matter of leadership, and we have to be careful what we say," Harkin said.

Pace noted that the U.S. Military Code of Justice prohibits homosexual activity as well as adultery. Harkin said, "Well, then, maybe we should change that."

Ellie

[thedrifter]

Gays should still be able to serve, Pace says
By William H. McMichael - Staff writer
Posted : Wednesday Sep 26, 2007 21:58:57 EDT

Widely criticized for saying during a March interview that homosexuality is immoral, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs told Congress Wednesday that while he still holds that view, gays, like all Americans, should be able to serve - although not openly - in the U.S. military.

Marine Gen. Peter Pace said he would support any change to the current "don't ask, don't tell" policy that would better enable such service.

"Any nation that does not take advantage of the quality, skills, and contributions of any part of its population is doing a disservice to themselves, whether it be cutting out women, cutting out men, cutting out certain kinds of religion, cutting [out] heterosexuals, cutting out homosexuals - anything that prevents those who want to contribute to society from contributing is a mistake on the part of the nation," said Pace.

He later added, "I would be very willing and able and supportive of any description, whatever change to 'don't ask, don't tell' would continue to allow the homosexual community to contribute to the nation, without condoning what I believe to be activity, whether it be heterosexual or homosexual, that in my upbringing is not right."

The comments came five days before Pace steps down as chairman and ends a 40-year military career.

In June, Defense Secretary Robert Gates announced that Adm. Michael Mullen would be nominated to replace Pace, who is completing one term as chairman. Gates said his decision not to nominate Pace for another term had nothing to do with his performance, but was a result of Gates' desire to avoid a likely contentious re-nomination process stemming from Pace's deep association with the increasingly unpopular Iraq war.

Pace had previously expressed such sentiments about gays in uniform, but not nearly as forcefully. On Wednesday, he told the Senate Appropriations Committee that his March 12 comments to a Chicago Tribune editorial board on the morality of homosexuality were "not reported very accurately."

He said at the time that the U.S. should welcome "all its citizens," but expressed support for the "don't ask, don't tell" policy.

The policy, established in law in 1993, forbids the Defense Department from investigating a service member's sexual orientation, but requires the department to discharge troops who are caught in a homosexual act, openly state they are homosexual or marry someone of the same gender.

The policy states, "Sexual orientation is considered a personal and private matter ... and is not a bar to service entry or continued service unless manifested by homosexual conduct."

As such, the law allows gays to serve, Pace said Wednesday. "It makes no judgment about their morality. It gives them the opportunity to serve. We should respect those who want to serve the nation but not, through the law of the land, condone activity that, in my upbringing, is counter to God's law."

The latter comment drew catcalls from anti-war protestors at the hearing, held to discuss funding for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, who began shouting at Pace, prompting Sen. Robert Byrd, D-W.Va., the committee chairman, to temporarily suspend the hearing.

"Clear the room! Clear the room!" Byrd thundered, pounding his gavel. "I've had enough of this!"

The 20 or so protestors, who had prefaced the hearing with shouts and chants and occasionally disrupted the proceedings, were removed, some forcibly.

Pace had been responding to tough questioning by Sen. Tom Harkin, D-Iowa.

"The statements you made in March regarding gays and lesbians in our society and in the military was very hurtful and, I think, very demoralizing, to the thousands of gay men and lesbian women who now serve in our military, and the more who want to serve their country," Harkin said. "And your statement that homosexual acts are immoral and we shouldn't condone that in the military, it was very hurtful. Millions of Americans are gay men and lesbian women, and they are some of our most upstanding, law-abiding, moral citizens that we have.

"I don't want to be discordant, but I didn't want to see a career like yours end on a note like that. I hope you've had time to reflect on that," Harkin continued. "Your personal views are your personal views. But, once you put those stars on your shoulder, just like when you take an oath of office, to be a secretary or a senator, our personal lives cross over, and we have to be cognizant of our responsibility to society at large when we either become a chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, or United States senator or a secretary."

In March, Pace told the Tribune board: "I believe homosexual acts between two individuals are immoral and that [the U.S. military] should not condone immoral acts ... I do not believe the United States is well served by a policy that says it is okay to be immoral in any way. ... As an individual, I would not want [acceptance of gay behavior] to be our policy."

The next day, Pace released a statement clarifying his remarks.

"In expressing my support for the current policy, I also offered some personal opinions about moral conduct," he said. "I should have focused more on my support of the policy and less on my personal moral views."

About 23 percent of troops say they are sure that someone in their unit is gay, according to a December Zogby poll. Of those troops, the poll found, 55 percent said they found out directly from the individual.

Roughly 10,700 service members have been kicked out of the military since "don't ask, don't tell" went into effect, according to the Pentagon.

Ellie