Admiral Michael Glenn Mullen (1946- ), US Chief of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, the ranking American military officer
The highest-ranking US military officer warned last week that a military strike on Iran would be a very bad idea. Upon his return from a visit to Israel and Europe, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Admiral Michael Mullen, told newsmen in Washington that “this is a very unstable part of the world, and we don’t need it to be more unstable”. Admiral Mullen made what could be one of the most significant comments of the 2008 election year. But, as it came just ahead of a holiday weekend, it did not receive much notice in the media.
Saying that he didn’t want to see the Middle East becoming even more unstable, Admiral Mullen added pointedly that the United States hasn’t had “much of a dialogue with the Iranians for a long time” , a statement which seemed to imply that the Bush administration should be talking to the Iranian government. In saying so, Admiral Mullen sounded pretty much like Democratic presidential nominee Senator Barack Obama, who said that if he is elected, he would begin talks with Iran without any precondition. Up to now, the Bush administration has insisted that before talks can begin, Tehran must cease its nuclear enrichment, which is a step toward building nuclear weapons.
Admiral Mullen is one of those powerful appointed officials whose words carry much weight and their import may have as much effect on the campaign as the presidential contenders themselves. In any case, it’s quite unusual for a military officer, especially the nation’s highest ranking one, to warn in such stark terms of the risk of a potential military action and to call for diplomacy so emphatically. Jon Alterman, the director of the Middle East Program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, pointed to Admiral Mullen’s statement in which he said, “I’m convinced a solution still lies in using other elements of national power to change Iranian behaviour, including diplomatic, financial, and international pressure. There’s a need for better clarity, even dialogue at some level”.
7 July 2008
Yuri Reshetnikov
Voice of Russia World Service
http://www.ruvr.ru/main.php?lng=eng&q=29348&cid=87&p=07.07.2008 (in English)
