Pace gets the boot, Navy to command

As of yesterday Secretary Gates has announced that he will not renominate General Pete Pace for a second term as JCS Chairman. According to DOD:

To avoid a contentious reconfirmation process, Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates will recommend that President Bush nominate Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Michael G. Mullen to replace Marine Gen. Peter Pace as chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

In a Pentagon news conference today, Gates said he also will recommend Marine Gen. James E. Cartwright for the position of vice chairman. Cartwright is the commander of U.S. Strategic Command. Navy Adm. Edmund P. Giambastiani Jr., the current vice chairman, announced his decision to retire last week.

“I have become well acquainted with Admiral Mullen over the last six months and believe he has the strategic insight, experience and integrity to lead America’s armed forces,” Gates said.

Gates said he intended to re-nominate Pace and Giambastiani but after consulting with senators of both parties came to the conclusions “that because General Pace has served as chairman and vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff for the last six years, the focus of his confirmation process would have been on the past rather than the future.”

He said the confirmation process would have the possibility of being quite contentious. “I am no stranger to contentious confirmations, and I do not shrink from them,” Gates said. “However, I have decided 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 selecting the next chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.”

Pace will continue to serve as chairman until his term ends Sept. 30. He is the first Marine to hold the position.

This decision definitely comes as a shock. Pace has only served one term as chairman so this basically amounts to Pace being fired before serving a customary second term.

Several ways to look at this. First, change is good. Pace has served on the JCS as Chairman and Vice Chairman since 2001, which means he oversaw the invasions of Iraq and Afghanistan from their inception. Dems definitely paint him as a Rummy yes-man which would have hurt his confirmation hearing under Sen. Levin and his fellow boys in blue with Hillary hurling as many lightning bolts as possible. So this is probably a good political move by Gates to avoid severe criticism of policy decisions until Petraeus reports in September. Furthermore, Adm. Mullen is well-liked due to his current emphasis in naval circles on a 1000-ship navy which argues for intense international naval cooperation and, like Gates himself, will be a welcome change from the Rumsfeld crew.

Another perspective, as David Brooks pointed out last night on The NewsHour, is that Gates is dumping a trusted advisor by shying away from a winnable political fight. If Pace still has SECDEF's confidence then Gates should fight for him so-to-speak.
Failing to do so further illustrates the Administration's lack of political clout.

I usually agree with Brooks but I think he's missed the boat here. Gates is not concerned with loyalty and "winning" political battles in a normal partisan Washington sense as his predecessor was. This is Gates making a move that will better serve the country even if it means sacrificing Pace in the process. Again, well done Mr. Secretary.