Woodward's strange account of Fallon's resignation [corrected]

ARTICLE: 'You're Not Accountable, Jack', By Bob Woodward, Washington Post, Tuesday, September 9, 2008; A01

Correction: Just looked at a copy of the actual book, pages 408 and 409. That sequence is alright. They just truncated it for the paper. Correction post

Here's the section about Tom:

In early March 2008, Esquire magazine published a long article by Thomas P.M. Barnett, a former professor at the Naval War College who had traveled with Fallon to the Middle East. Headlined, "The Man Between War and Peace," the 7,500-word article was mostly laudatory but portrayed Fallon as "brazenly challenging" Bush and Cheney on Iran policy.

Fallon, who was in Baghdad, realized instantly the uproar it would cause. He called Gates.

"I think I need to be gone," Fallon said.

"Okay," Gates said.

Later that afternoon, Gates went before the television cameras. "I have approved Admiral Fallon's request to retire with reluctance and regret," he said. "Admiral Fallon reached this difficult decision entirely on his own. I believe it was the right thing to do even though I do not believe there are, in fact, significant differences between his views and administration policy."

Tom writes:

That timeline is all wrong. Many readers of my blog will know that.

The s--t hit the fan Wednesday, the 5th of March. Calls were being made all over the place. Thomas Ricks and I exchanged a number of emails that afternoon in which he relayed Fallon's displeasure, seeking my comments. I offered none. Ricks thereupon wrote about it in WAPO (Woodward's newspaper!), the page-three article being published on Thursday, the 6th of March, with response quotes from Fallon.

[Ed. I posted about the article's mention in the March 5th White House Press Briefing and posted about the Ricks article. If you're interested in how the events unfolded and what Tom wrote, you might like to just scroll down the March 2008 archive page.]

Fallon resigned publicly on Tuesday, the 11th of March, in Baghdad. Gates announced it that afternoon. It was coincidentally overwhelmed in the news that very same day by the announcement of New York governor Eliot Spitzer's resignation.

[Ed. Read Tom's post that day]

That's a six day gap between start to finish--not so "instant" nor "later that afternoon," unless you can imagine that Fallon spoke to Ricks on Wednesday and then waited six days to call his boss.

As reporting goes, it's patently inaccurate and therefore misleading in what it leaves out. I am stunned it went into the book like that. I mean, that is simply so easy to check factually.

Other than that, an interesting stream of reporting on Keane's role. I interviewed him long ago for the Rumsfeld profile. That appears to be an accurate capture.

(Thanks to woolgathering... for the first sign of the article.)

Comments

[Lexington Green]

Take this as indicia of how accurate he is about everything else, as well. Facts, schmacts.

[Tom Barnett]

That was the most disturbing aspect of this whole thing for me. If that's the level of reporting, then he takes magnificent liberties with the truth.

[Daniel McIntosh]

Factchecking is something of a lost art. I suspect it comes from a market where getting it out fast trumps getting it out right.

[William R. Cumming]

Does Woodward ever publish revisions or just let the mistake stand?The theory of a free press is that it is self-correcting over time. Whatever your role TOM glad you were on that plane with the Admiral. Fallon sounds like an interesting person and now wonder how he got to the top? I know the Navy is trying to sort out the future and struggling to do so but don't think McCain if he wins will help that sorting out.

[John Decker]

I'm with Dr. Tom just about all of the time, and I believe that his correction of today (9/12) shows that jumping to quick conclusions and actions can be problematic. Sometimes, we all need to do a little fact checking before reacting. It is a testament to Dr. Tom that, unlike many, he is willing to admit an error.