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Four star General Kevin Byrnes:
Fired for arguing with the Rumsfeld neo-con clique in the Pentagon |
The sudden firing of U.S. Army Training and Doctrine (TRADOC) Commander, four
star General and New York City native Kevin P. Byrnes, one of only 11 four star
generals in the Army, has much more to do with an anonymous Pentagon-reported
case of his involvement in an alleged "extra-marital affair." Although
Byrnes has recently been involved in divorce proceedings, Pentagon insiders report
that Byrnes was fired for insubordination. Byrnes' firing fits a pattern of neocon
demonizing of policy opponents by tossing out unsubstantiated charges from "anonymous
source." For example, when Brig. Gen. Janis Karpinski was demoted to Colonel
over trumped up charges over her role as commander of Iraqi prisons during the
time of the prisoner abuse (and after she revealed the presence of Israeli interrogators
in Iraqi prisons), the Pentagon spin machine, joined at the hips with neo-con
think thanks and media outlets in Washington, cited a dated and totally unsubstantiated
shoplifting accusation against her. Army Chief of Staff Gen. Peter Schoomaker,
who Donald Rumsfeld hauled out of retirement to head up the Army after Gen. Eric
Shinseki was fired and after no other active duty general wanted the job, relieved
Byrnes of his command at Fort Monroe, Virginia. Byrnes had previous run-ins with
the neo-cons in the Pentagon. In 2002, Byrnes was faced with being retired at
Lt. Gen. after he clashed with then-Rumsfeld aide Stephen Cambone over proposed
troop strength cuts. Then Army Secretary Thomas White, intervened on behalf of
Byrnes and he received his fourth star. White was later fired by the Pentagon
neo-cons.
What has not been reported is that recently, one of Byrnes' subordinate commands,
Fort Rucker in Alabama, had been told to stand by for an influx of 50,000 military
trainees -- a level the base has not seen since the Vietnam War. Byrnes' relief
of command came on the heels of the Pentagon announcing that might permit Spanish-language
entrance examinations. Byrnes, who was in charge of Army training, would not
only face recruits with lower education levels, criminal records, but a lack
of proficiency in English. Pentagon insiders report that it was Byrnes' policy
disagreements with the Pentagon neo-cons over the new recruitment policies and
the potential for calling up Army retirees and reinstating military conscription
without adequate TRADOC funding that resulted in his firing. The personal misconduct
charges were concocted by the Pentagon to cover up the fact that there are serious
disagreements with Bush and Rumsfeld among the flag officer ranks in the military.
Byrnes was also associated with a group of officers who spent time at the U.S.
Army War College at Carlisle Barracks in Pennsylvania. The Army War College
has been a center of opposition to the war in Iraq and it is believed that Byrnes
was recognized by the neo-cons as one of the unofficial leaders of a group of
Army flag rank opponents of Bush's war in Iraq and potential military action
against Iran.
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