{"id":15186,"date":"2015-05-10T17:39:23","date_gmt":"2015-05-10T17:39:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/uncategorized\/2015\/05\/10\/column-a-dysfunctional-dynamic\/"},"modified":"2026-08-07T21:25:35","modified_gmt":"2026-08-07T21:25:35","slug":"column-a-dysfunctional-dynamic","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/congress\/2015\/05\/10\/column-a-dysfunctional-dynamic\/","title":{"rendered":"Column: A Dysfunctional Dynamic"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Why mince words? The relationship between Senate Armed Services Committee (SASC) Ranking Member John McCain and outgoing Joint Chiefs Chairman Martin Dempsey was at best dysfunctional and at worse poisonous.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">And like so many \u2014 too many? \u2014 unpalatable aspects of US foreign policy over the last dozen years, much of the discord is rooted in Mesopotamia. To be exact: Iraq.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Here&#8217;s how I reported McCain&#8217;s comments to reporters last October after he and Dempsey had yet another tense back-and-forth during a public hearing:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">&#8220;Former Republican presidential nominee Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., was particularly perturbed that Dempsey told a Senate panel that Obama&#8217;s plan to use the rebels to fight [the Islamic State group] inside Syria did not include strikes against Bashar al-Assad&#8217;s air defense systems.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8221; <span class=\"-newsgate--ccix-command-133\">&#8216;He might have credibility with some,&#8217; McCain told reporters just before a seven-week congressional recess began, &#8216;but that&#8217;s not with me.&#8217; <span class=\"-newsgate--ccix-command-133\">&#8220;<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"468\" height=\"509\" src=\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/steve-bennett.jpg.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-27185\" srcset=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/steve-bennett.jpg.jpg 468w, https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/steve-bennett.jpg.jpg?resize=276,300 276w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 468px) 100vw, 468px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><span>John T. Bennett<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><span>Photo Credit: Mike Morones<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">McCain, the Senate&#8217;s &#8220;maverick,&#8221; has told reporters several times that his beef with Dempsey is mostly about his views on Syria. But the two were on opposite sides of one of the country&#8217;s most divisive foreign policy decisions of the 21st century: the 2006 Iraq surge.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">&#8220;Actually, Gen. Dempsey, you and I went through this in 2006, when I said that it wasn&#8217;t succeeding and that we had to have a surge and that only a surge could succeed in reversing the tide of battle, and you disagreed with me then,&#8221; McCain roared at the Joint Chiefs chairman in October. &#8220;Way back then.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">&#8220;And I think history shows that those of us who supported the surge were right,&#8221; McCain said, &#8220;and people like you, who didn&#8217;t think we need a surge, were wrong.&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">McCain seemed buoyant last week when discussing Dempsey&#8217;s exit and the likely easy entrance of Gen. Joseph Dunford, now the commandant of the Marine Corps, nominated last week by the president to succeed Dempsey.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">&#8220;In addition to his leadership of the Marine Corps, Gen. Dunford&#8217;s exemplary service in Iraq and Afghanistan makes him a strong choice as we confront threats to stability and peace in both countries and throughout the region,&#8221; said the SASC chairman, who will oversee the confirmation process of &#8220;Fightin&#8217; Joe.&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Each time McCain and Dempsey clash, all things Iraq are dredged up anew. Dempsey&#8217;s coming retirement will move the country farther from the George W. Bush administration&#8217;s Iraq war.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Whether or not one still supports the rationale behind the conflict is moot. But it is undeniable that <span class=\"-newsgate--ccix-command-243\">the outcome brought few strategic gains and created much ill will at home and abroad.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">It&#8217;s widely held that the sooner the United States can finally put its Iraq mission in the past, the better.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">But if the relationship between Dunford and McCain \u2014 who&#8217;s showing no signs of leaving the Senate \u2014 is a fraction better than the Dempsey-McCain dynamic, it&#8217;s a step closer.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Why mince words? The relationship between Senate Armed Services Committee (SASC) Ranking Member John McCain and outgoing Joint Chiefs Chairman Martin Dempsey was at best dysfunctional and at worse poisonous.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":28960,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-noindex":"","_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-nofollow":"","_yoast_wpseo_canonical":"","_acf":"","_yoast_wpseo_primary_category":0,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","_smg_distribution_targets":[]},"categories":[8,33,19],"tags":[],"coauthors":[1090],"class_list":["post-15186","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-congress","category-home","category-pentagon"],"acf":{"subheadline":"","legacy_arc_id":"FUSQ5DVTKNEXDLRNHSC24MYMKE","arc_canonical_url":"\/2015\/05\/10\/column-a-dysfunctional-dynamic\/","remove_feature_photo":false,"is_sponsored":false,"subtype":"","redirect_url":"","disable_inline_ads":false,"native_logo_pretext":"Presented By:"},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v26.0 (Yoast SEO v28.1) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Column: A Dysfunctional Dynamic - Defense News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Why mince words? 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