Upon his return from a visit to Israel and Europe, the nation’s highest ranking military officer warned Wednesday that a military strike on Iran would be a very bad idea.

“This is a very unstable part of the world, and I don't need it to be more unstable,” said the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Adm. Michael Mullen.

He added pointedly, “we haven't had much of a dialogue with the Iranians for a long time,” seeming to imply that the Bush administration should be talking to the Iranian government.

Democratic presidential nominee Sen. Barack Obama has said that if elected, he would begin talks with Iran, without any precondition.

The Bush administration has insisted that before talks can begin, Iran must cease its nuclear enrichment — a step toward building

It’s unusual for a military officer, especially the nation’s highest ranking one, to warn in such explicit terms of potential military action and to so emphatically call for diplomacy.

“What struck me about the comments was that he called for dialogue with Iran in his preliminary statement, even before he was responding to (reporters’) questions,” said Jon Alterman, the director of the Middle East Program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington.

Mullen appeared to be edging toward saying that military action, either by Israel or the United States, or both, would be catastrophic.


Snippets from the report, click the link (http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/25515357/) to see the whole thing.

Thank god there are more people stepping up and trying to talk us down from such a disastrous operation.

It’s unusual for a military officer, especially the nation’s highest ranking one, to warn in such explicit terms of potential military action and to so emphatically call for diplomacy.


It's only unusual during this administration. A civil and pointed dialogue between those who push for war and those who are burdened with fighting it has in the past been the "American way".

Look back in history and you shall see. Although there have been many instances of dis-agreement between military leaders and the Bush/Cheney crew those that have spoken have been remived, but that's no secret.

As an example of one instance you can refer to my sig.


Mullen appeared to be edging toward saying that military action, either by Israel or the United States, or both, would be catastrophic.

People like Admiral Mullen to the bagger at the grocery store are all in agreement with the exception of a few people associated with the Whitehouse and some other idiots who have twisted the republican party and the evangelical movement much like Bin Laden has twisted the Muslim religion.

Hm... I foresee an Admiral Mullen "retirement" in the near future.

I was very pleased to hear that Wesley Clark is a lead military adviser for Obama, though rumors of Colin Powell having another shot at Secretary of State is interesting too. You really need people who've done this stuff before advising you, and you need to listen to them.

I still wish Colin Powell had run for president...

Powell would have been an interesting president, unfortunately I think that his involvement with the Bush administration killed any realistic chances of it and from his public statements, at least, most of the comfort or purpose he found in public service.

I think that's one of the worst things about this particular government: you have so many people that honestly want to do good and get caught up in the lie-machine and by the time they fall out of it, are mostly ruined for the things they want to do.

I was very pleased to hear that Wesley Clark is a lead military adviser for Obama, though rumors of Colin Powell having another shot at Secretary of State is interesting too. You really need people who've done this stuff before advising you, and you need to listen to them.


I would really like seeing Powell back in as Secretary of State, but I am unsure whether he would be credible in his international duties following his testimony before the UN regarding Iraq's WMD's.

I think that's one of the worst things about this particular government: you have so many people that honestly want to do good and get caught up in the lie-machine and by the time they fall out of it, are mostly ruined for the things they want to do.

A true shame for sure. I often wondered if Powell was setup to take a fall by Cheney, I don't think Cheney liked him.

I think that's one of the worst things about this particular government: you have so many people that honestly want to do good and get caught up in the lie-machine and by the time they fall out of it, are mostly ruined for the things they want to do. A true shame for sure. I often wondered if Powell was setup to take a fall by Cheney, I don't think Cheney liked him. At least on the NK issues, Powell's mistake was to continue Clinton policies. This administration hated Clinton so much that they ended up letting NK get nuclear weapons because the only policies that were working were Clinton (http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/features/2004/0405.kaplan.html)'s. Likewise, the policies that worked to keep Iran from getting enrichment facilities set up were from the Clinton administration. And it also didn't help that bush got on Iranian TV and said "whatever you do, don't vote for Ajmeniwhatever" so the Iranians voted for their own version of John Bolton as a way to spite bush.

Anyone who didn't maintain the administration's policy of condemning All Things Clinton would get shot in the back - which is why Powell got attacked. If cheney were asked, he'd say something like "it isn't personal, it's just business."