Earlier this week we wrote that the chairman of the Joints of Staff, Gen. Martin Dempsey, had “provoked a public confrontation” with House Budget Committee leader Rep. Paul Ryan. It appeared that Dempsey had made a grievous error by claiming that Ryan had “called [the JCS], collectively, liars.”
However, the press accounts of Dempsey’s remarks, upon which we relied, appear to have quoted the chairman out of context. Here is the full passage as provided by Gen. Dempsey’s staff: “First of all, I think there’s a difference between being – having someone say they don’t believe what you say versus – (inaudible) – calling us collectively, liars. Stated another way, I mean, my impression is that the chairman has indicated that he hasn’t been persuaded that this process was strategy-driven.”
