When Things Look Bad, Always "Change Course"

At this point in time, the Bush Administration will go down in history of making the most changes in personnel than any other administration in the record of the American Presidency. The latest change in personnel came Friday when Secretary of Defense Robert Gates announced that General Peter Pace (one of the officials who was there since the beginning) would have to step down from his Joint Chiefs of staff position. General Pace was known to have been one of those who planned the United States policy for Afghanistan and Iraq. He suggested that former, late Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein would be contained. And, of course, the military official had weathered the many storms that brewed around Iraq policy--even before "Shock and Awe".

What was surprising about this move is that the Bush White House accepted this decision without a fight. Unlike the stir around Attorney General Alberto Gonzales in which Mr. Bush and company challenged the move for a no-confidence vote with full guns blazing, Gen. Pace's forced outing occurred with nary a whimper. Instead, the current Administration had seen the mess that was made out of Iraq. They allegedly have their eyes open to the potential brouhaha that Turkey might bring to the place with its hostilities against the Kurds on the Northern border of Iraq. And of course, they cannot truly ignore the outcry that the American pubic has raised over wanting the troops home and ending the war overseas that has virtually become unwinnable.

Although the official reason is that Defense head Gates did not want a "divisive ordeal" occurring in the Senate when reviewing the record in retaining General Pace, this decision comes when foreign policy in the Middle East has become too much of a hot potato for America to handle. Instead of following the mantra of "staying the course", they decided--in this case--to "cut and run" (something that conservatives have openly taunted Dems of doing).

It will be interesting to see what the change of leadership has to offer, especially when events--in the wake of the G8 conference--has forced the United States to have a long, cold, hard look in the mirror of world events.