The Admiral, the White House, and the Pentagon

As a zone of American military interest, US Central Command is as critical as they come. It stretches from the hot zones of Pakistan and Afghanistan, across Iraq and the Middle East to the Horn of Africa.

Right now it has two live wars going on, talk of a third with Iran, and tremendous questions of US strategy in hot debate.

This week, the four-star commander at the head of Centcom, Admiral William J. "Fox" Fallon, abruptly resigned after only a year at the post. He was a blistering critic of much US strategy in a critical region. Now, he's gone. We ask why.

This hour, On Point: Reading an admiral's exit at Centcom.Guests:

William McMichael, Pentagon correspondent for the Military Times newspapers

Zbigniew Brzezinski, professor of American foreign policy at the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies, he was national security adviser to President Jimmy Carter from 1977 to 1981.

Volney Warner, retired 4-star US Army general, former commander of the precursor to the US military's Central Command.

William Nash, retired US Army major general, senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations

James Dobbins, director of the RAND Corporation's International Security and Defense Policy Center, he was Special Envoy for Somalia, Haiti, Bosnia, and Kosovo in the Clinton administration and the Bush administration's first Special Envoy for Afghanistan