Defense Secretary Dick Cheney fired Air Force Chief of Staff Michael Dugan for "poor judgment" in publicly discussing U.S. bombing plans that Dugan said were aimed specifically at Iraqi President Saddam Hussein.
It was the first time in 41 years that a member of the Joint Chiefs of Staff - the highest military body in the United States, with one officer each from the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps and a chairman - had been fired."Relieving him is not a pleasant task, but I felt it was a necessary one," Cheney said Monday. Dugan, 53, a decorated Vietnam War veteran and four-star general, was selected for the high-level post by Cheney only two months ago.
"At this moment, we have over 150,000 U.S. military personnel deployed in Operation Desert Shield in the Middle East," Cheney said in remarks to a group of regional reporters at the Old Executive Office Building. "They may be engaged in hostilities in the very near future."
Noting that conduct of U.S. security policy is a "very delicate task," Cheney said Dugan's controversial remarks to reporters did not "reveal an adequate understanding of what is expected of him."
Dugan's comments "showed poor judgment at a very sensitive time," Cheney said at a Pentagon news conference later. He added that Dugan "will be retired" from the Air Force.
Cheney said he intends to recommend to President Bush that he nominate Gen. Merrill A. "Tony" McPeak, 54, commander of Pacific Air Forces at Hickam Air Force Base in Hawaii, to replace Du-gan as Air Force chief of staff.
Meanwhile, Air Force Gen. John Michael Loh, vice chief of staff, will take over, pending McPeak's nomination and confirmation.
Dugan returned Saturday from a trip to Saudi Arabia during which he made the controversial remarks to reporters from The Washington Post and Los Angeles Times.
In a statement released by the Air Force, Dugan said, "I sincerely regret any embarrassment that my comments may have caused the administration. I was presenting my personal views, and they should not be construed to reflect any plans, or the position of any other member of the administration or the Department of Defense."
Dugan, whose comments appeared in the newspapers Sunday, said the Joint Chiefs had concluded that U.S. military air power - including a massive bombing mission against Baghdad that specifically targets Saddam - is the only effective option to force Iraqi forces from Kuwait if war erupts.
"The cutting edge would be in downtown Baghdad," Dugan was quoted as saying. "This (bombing) would not be nibbling at the edges. If I want to hurt you, it would be at home, not out in the woods someplace."
Saddam is a "one-man show" in Iraq, Dugan continued, according to the Post. "If and when we choose violence, he ought to be at the focus of our efforts."
Cheney said he read the interview in Sunday's Washington Post and discussed it with senior Pentagon officials and Bush during the day.
"I made the decision (to fire him) and implemented it after I had the opportunity to hear from General Dugan this (Monday) morning," Cheney said.
"He took the news as I would have expected him to take it - like a gentleman," Cheney said.
At the White House, Bush had little comment on the dismissal other than to say, "I strongly support our secretary of defense."
Cheney told the regional reporters that "there are certain things that we never talk about" at the Pentagon.
"We never discuss operational matters such as the selection of specific targets for potential air strikes," Cheney said. "We never talk about the targeting of specific individuals who are officials in other governments. That's a violation of the executive order (against assassinations).
"We never estimate, underestimate the strength of opposing forces or reveal previously classified information about the size and disposition of U.S. forces. Nor do we ever demean the contributions of the other services."
"General Dugan's statements, as reported in the press and as confirmed by him to me, failed all of those tests," Cheney said.
The last member of the Joint Chiefs of Staff to be fired was Adm. Louis Denfeld, chief of naval operations and a strong proponent of aircraft carriers, who was relieved of his duties by President Harry Truman in 1949.
Truman took the action after Den-feld complained in public congressional testimony that the administration was placing too much emphasis on Air Force strategic bombers and had "starved" the Navy.