Breaking news: Marine General Peter Pace — “Perfect Pete,” as he’s known inside the Pentagon — is out as chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff after serving less than two years. Pace’s announced departure comes just after the deputy joint chiefs chairman, Admiral Edmund Giambastiani, announced his own retirement last week.
ThinkProgress links to a report from defense expert Loren Thompson speculating that Pace’s departure is “related more to the triggering of certain retirement benefits than his close association with the discredited former Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld.” Defense Secretary Bob Gates announced the nomination of Admiral Mike Mullen to replace Pace.
Update: Gates explained in a press conference that he feared Pace couldn’t get through a nomination for another two-year term as chairman without it becoming a “contentious” forum on the administration’s performance on Iraq and Afghanistan.