Adm. William Fallon resigned as head of U.S. Central Command, having served less than a year in the post with responsibility for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Adm. William Fallon resigned as head of U.S. Central Command, having served less than a year in the post with responsibility for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. He explained, "The current embarrassing situation, public perception of differences between my views and administration policy and the distraction this causes from the mission make this the right thing to do." He neglected only to mention that this public perception is the result of his own improper statements. He was consistently at odds with General Petraeus over troop reductions in Iraq, and a recent Esquire profile of the admiral depicted him as "brazenly challenging" his commander in chief. The administration says that "all options are on the table" with Iran, but Fallon told the Financial Times that military action was not "in the offing. Another war is not where we want to go." A CENTCOM commander is expected to support both his commanders in the field and his commander in chief; Fallon preferred to freelance on foreign policy, which he may now do in retirement.