The first Marine to hold the post of Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff will not be nominated for a second term. General Peter Pace will step down when his term is up in September, 2007. Defense Secretary Robert Gates will reportedly recommend that Admiral Mike Mullen, chief of Naval operations, be nominated as the next chairman. Speaking from the G-8 summit in Germany, President Bush praised General Pace’s work over the past two years.

It is not a shock that the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs is being replaced. It is a position that is by nature subject to turnover. What is disappointing is the stated public reason for the replacement. Senator Carl Levin, a Democrat from Michigan chairs the Senate committee that will hear the consideration of Admiral Mullen and would have considered General Pace’s renomination. Senator Levin said that the process to renominate General Pace “would have been a backward-looking debate about the last four years.” Defense Secretary Gates essentially agreed and said that a confirmation hearing on General Pace would have been “a backward-looking and very contentious process.” Senate Majority Leader, and staunch anti-war politician, Harry Reid (D-Nev) issued this statement on the decision to replace the Chair and Vice-Chair of the Joint Chiefs: “Both men must be advocates for our troops, not for a failed policy. It will require strong leadership to transition the U.S. mission in Iraq so our troops are not policing an Iraqi civil war. They must also refocus on the resurgence of Al Qaeda, rebuild the readiness of the United States military, and fix major problems with the delivery of health care to our troops and veterans.”

It is sad that a man such as General Pace, a qualified and distinguished officer, is being replaced because of the politics in play over the war in Iraq. Of course playing politics is part of the job description in Washington, DC, even for military men. But it is clear that those in Congress who tried to defeat the Iraq War through cutting funding and forcing deadlines are still using what leverage they have to push their anti-war agenda. Senator Reid is continuing to use the troops as his excuse for speaking out against the war, but instead of asking the troops what they need and how we can best support them, he and his anti-war allies are still using them to further their own agenda.