In defense of Mike Mullen

Posted By Dov Zakheim Wednesday, January 13, 2010 - 10:06 PM Share

Ad hominem attacks are always, and by definition, below the belt and not to be taken seriously. But Larry Korb has gone too far in going after Mike Mullen.

Full disclosure: Mike Mullen is a personal friend. But it is precisely because I know him well that I can state without hesitation that Korb's assertions simply do not hold water. Mike Mullen is a man of bedrock integrity, who continues to serve his nation simply because he was asked to. It was not at all clear that Mike was prepared to serve a second term as chairman of the joint chiefs. But when his commander in chief asked him to do so, he agreed.

Korb's argument is in any event internally inconsistent: he quotes Mullen's response to Gen. Dan McNeill's 2007 request for 30,000 troops and then somehow blends it with Gen. Dave McKiernan's request a year later. Generals are always asking for more troops. It is the job of the Chairman to evaluate those requests, and say "no" when that is the proper answer. Perhaps we needed 30,000 more troops in 2007; not everyone was screaming from the ramparts that we did. And to cite Earl Wheeler's request for a million troops in 1965 is beside the point. Should we really have deployed a million troops? Would liberals like Larry Korb, who argued strongly against William Westmoreland's requests for more troops, really have supported Wheeler's request? Did they?

Everyone who knows Mike Mullen recognizes two things about the man: he is immensely modest, and he "calls them as he sees them." One can argue whether Mike made the right call in 2007; what is beyond argument, however, is that the call he made was not the call he really saw.

Alex Wong/Getty Images

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9:30 AM ET

January 15, 2010

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BOBSTONES

2:15 AM ET

January 20, 2010

911 Truth & Lack of media attention

Dear Mr. Dov Zakheim:
Until the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth about 9/11 is finally told to the American people, our society will continue to decline.

Mr. Zakeheim, I am a fellow Jew and cannot overlook the fact that scientific evidence shows that thermite was used to bring down the Twin Towers and NOT THE MAGIC PANCAKE THEORY.
One thousand Architects and Engineers will explain that the basic laws of thermodynamics and gravity do not make any sense when explaining the "official" 9/11 explanation of why the towers fell. Also the second tower that was hit fell first. Very strange indeed.
Most Americans don't even realize that a third building fell, Building 7 and that was not hit by a plane. I even asked Richard Hass of the Council of Foreign Relations about Building 7 and he said he knew nothing about the subject. Either he was lying to me or is ignorant. Ultimately, we went to war and blamed Osama Bin Laden and yet President Bush allowed his family to escape when all other planes in America were grounded. Nothing makes sense to me.

As far as the Pentagon "Attack", there was never any evidence recovered on the ground nor on the videotape that supports that a commercial airliner even struck the building.

You are aware about the accusations that 2.3 TRILLION DOLLARS were unaccounted for yet seven years later $700 Billion was considered a hefty amount of money that went to TARP.

I was a history and sociology major at San Diego State and continue to follow international and U.S. news events. I would greatly appreciate your thoughts about 9/11 so that I can be set straight on the above matters.

Shadow Government is a blog about U.S. foreign policy under the Obama administration, written by experienced policy makers from the loyal opposition and curated by Peter D. Feaver and William Inboden.