Word: cheneys
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When General Michael Dugan boasted that if war came, American planes would probably target Saddam, his family and mistress, Secretary of Defense Dick Cheney fired him as Air Force Chief of Staff. Cheney told reporters that Dugan's strategy was "potentially a violation" of the Executive Order. But a senior official in the Pentagon argues that if General Dugan had left Saddam's family and mistress out of it -- better yet, if he had simply said the target was Iraqi command and control -- his statements "would have been...
...Cheney blew up after reading on-the-record comments that Dugan, in office only 79 days, made to Washington Post and Los Angeles Times correspondents accompanying him on a week-long trip through the Middle East. Dugan, a West Point graduate, talked in considerable detail about classified operational plans, including the use of Saudi bases for American B-52 flights in wartime and training routines for the supersecret F-117A Stealth fighters. In comments deeply distressing to America's allies, Dugan advocated bombing Iraqi cities --including downtown Baghdad--and said, "I don't expect to be concerned" about political constraints...
...Dugan's biggest sin, in Cheney's eyes, was references to Israel's contribution to the U.S. military effort. Dugan said that Israel had supplied the U.S. with its latest high-tech, superaccurate missiles and that based on Jerusalem's advice that Saddam is a "one-man show," the U.S. had devised a plan to decapitate the Iraqi leadership -- beginning with Saddam, his family, his personal guard and his mistress. Such targeting, Cheney was quick to point out, not only is political dynamite but also "is potentially a violation" of a 1981 Executive Order signed by President Ronald Reagan flatly...
...Cheney also deplored Dugan's arrogant assumption that the Army and Navy would be relegated to secondary roles as the Air Force won the war all by itself, and what the defense chief saw as Dugan's misplaced disdain for Iraqi military capability. Without any hesitation, Cheney picked up the phone and got President Bush's approval for firing Dugan. In yet further evidence of how he runs the Pentagon, the Defense Secretary's next call was to Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Colin Powell, advising--but not asking--him of the decision to fire Dugan. National Security Adviser Brent...
...Cheney appointed Pacific Air Force General Merrill McPeak as Dugan's successor and declared the affair at an end. Perhaps. But after reading General Dugan's scenario, America's allies may remain nervous about what other unilateral military adventures rest in the Pentagon's safes...