Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid Calls Joint Chiefs Chairman Peter Pace 'Incompetent'

WASHINGTON — "Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid confirmed Thursday that he told liberal bloggers last week that he thinks outgoing Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Peter Pace is "incompetent."

Reid also disparaged Army Gen. David Petraeus, head of Multinational Forces in Iraq.

But Reid, whose comments to bloggers first appeared in The Politico, also told reporters: "I think we should just drop it."

Reid's admission came as reporters peppered him with questions about Pace and Petraeus, overshadowing a Capitol Hill press conference designed to highlight Democratic attempts to improve fuel economy and energy efficiency.

Reid said he told Pace face-to-face recently that he had performed poorly as an adviser on the conduct of the Iraq war.

"I believe that General Pace would not be if he had come forward to be reappointed the chairman of the Joints Chiefs. It wouldn't have happened and I'm not going to get into what I said or didn't say. There is a long list of people including Senators (Carl) Levin and (Jack) Reed and others who have talked about General Pace long before I did. I think we should just drop it. The fact is, he's not going to be the chairman of the Joint Chiefs, for which I'm happy," Reid said."

This reminds me of the bad old days of the Clinton two-fer Presidency. The Joint Chiefs of Staff would decide it necessary to speak directly with the President, only to be told that they should have checked with Hillary's people first because the First Lady was unavailable. That's right, Billy speaking with our commanding Generals without Hillary present or at least giving him the go-ahead to see them without her was verbotten. The Clinton's hated the military, thinking it to be a black hole that sucked away the monies they wanted for entitlements. One of the saving graces of the Bush Oval Office has been it's relationship with our military. Not so with the present day Congress, as traitorous scum such as Run-Away Reed have assumed power and so enjoy disrespecting our fighting men.

General Pace thought it to be dishonorable to retire during a shooting war. The Secretary of Defense felt otherwise, and there went the last shred of honor and decency George W. Bush brought with him to the White House.