The article in Esquire magazine about Admiral William Fallon describes a smart man schooled in real-world politics. US Central Command stretched from "East Africa to the Chinese border--a fractious little sandbox with Iraq on one edge and Afghanistan on the other and tens of thousands of American boots already on the ground in both. Pakistan's there in one corner, threatening to boil over and spill its nuclear jihadists forth upon the world; in another, the Gaza Strip continues to hum like a bowstring; and up north, the post-Soviet republics of Central Asia, the 'Stans, rattle along under dictators who range from the merely authoritarian to the genuinely insane. And right in the middle lies Iran."
Nuances and subtleties are required for the job of commander of Centcom. Admiral Fallon jumps off the pages of the interview as well suited for it. Meeting with Hosni Mubarak (whose emergency rule has lasted 27 years, is not democratic, yet is a linchpin of US policy) and Pervez Musharraf, dealing with a slice of the world encompassing so many power kegs calls for someone of his ilk.
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