Admiral Fallon explains.

Or doesn't:

Washington, D.C.(AHN) - America's former top military official for the Middle East has spoken for the first time since being replaced by the Pentagon. Admiral William J. "Fox" Fallon says in a New York Times interview that he had come under pressure after he went on record with his position for greater diplomatic engagement with Iran.

Fallon stepped down on March 11 as Commander of the U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) after a little over a year of service. He cited "the current embarrassing situation of public perception of differences between my views and administration policy and the distraction this causes from the mission" as the reason for his resignation. At the time, Esquire magazine had recently published an interview with Fallon that depicted him as criticizing President George Bush over wanting to invade Iran.

Over the weekend, Fallon again spoke to the Times about the "misperception" that he had come in conflict with the Bush administration over policy toward Iran. "There was a huge perception that I was publicly at odds with the president, which was not true. I had serious concerns that my subordinates - my soldiers, sailors, airmen, marines - had that perception. It put me in a difficult position. I felt very uncomfortable," he said.

But he also admitted that pressure had been building against him for months, and that there had been disagreements with Gen. David Petraeus, commander of the Multinational Force in Iraq and Fallon's replacement as CENTCOM chief. Fallon had pushed for troop withdrawals from Iraq that were more than those proposed by the Pentagon.

So you weren't preventing the White House from attacking Iran, but you were tossed out because you wanted to remove more soldiers from Iraq that they wanted to? ... It still doesn't make much sense, but thanks for trying.