Bye-bye, Dick

President Bush has had a changing of the guard as a farewell ceremony for GENERAL RICHARD B. MYERS, USAF CHAIRMAN OF THE JOINT CHIEFS OF STAFF took place on Sept. 30. General Peter Pace will replace Myers.

General Richard B. Myers became the fifteenth Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff on Oct. 1, 2001. He served as the principal military advisor to the President, the Secretary of Defense, and the National Security Council. Prior to becoming Chairman, he served as Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff for 19 months.

Myers has compared the war in Iraq to that of WW11 and has often been critical of media's coverage of the war.

"What does the enemy do on a daily basis? And what does the press report about the enemy?" Myers asked. "On a daily basis in Iraq, what the enemy does is kill innocent men, women and children."

When abuse of prisoners was reported, Myers was quick to deflect the negative attention back to the terrorist, stating that Jordanian-born violent extremist Abu Musab al-Zarqawi said that he would kill innocents to try to spark a civil war between Sunnis and Shiias. Extremists under his direction have launched some of the bloodiest attacks in Iraq. Zarqawi and his henchmen have chopped off their victims' heads and put the murders on the Internet for the world to see.

"That's abhorrent behavior," he said. "That's what the press ought to be focused on not a couple of incidents where an overzealous guard or interrogator abused a Koran."

Under General Myers, rules of The Geneva Conventions were not seen as relevant and "softening up" of prisoners was viewed as necessary.

His replacement is General Peter Pace, sworn in as sixteenth Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff on September 30, 2005. In this capacity, he serves as the principal military advisor to the President, the Secretary of Defense, and the National Security Council.

Link to:
http://www.defenselink.mil/bios/myers_bio.html
http://www.jcs.mil/bios/bio_pace2.html