Posted on: Monday, March 25, 2002

EDITORIAL
From Blair to Fargo, good men to top post

Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld made a smart choice in his decision to appoint Adm. Thomas Fargo as the new Hawai'i-based Commander-in-Chief Pacific, replacing Adm. Dennis Blair.

The huge Pacific Command spans half the globe. Like Blair before him, Fargo will be responsible for a variety of missions in the region, ranging from high-level diplomacy and preparation for traditional war-fighting through the new, complex war on terrorism.

It is a post that can ill-afford much getting-up-to-speed. Because Fargo has been commander of the Navy's Pacific Fleet, he already knows the region and is familiar to both military and civilian leaders across Asia.

That's a distinct advantage. The United States is already in the Philippines, "assisting" local forces in the war on terrorism there, and the pressure is on to become more directly engaged in anti-terrorism efforts in Indonesia. Both these missions, like so many in the Pacific Command, require an informed balance of military force and diplomatic nuance.

A brief look at the many challenges that Blair faced during his tenure at Camp Smith illustrates the complexity of this particular command. These ranged from supervising the appropriate U.S. military role in East Timor through managing diplomatic fallout in the wake of the 1999 U.S. bombing of the Chinese embassy in Belgrade.

That bombing forced Blair to cancel an early trip to China and required him to go back to basics with several years of "confidence-building" diplomacy.

Blair also had to case-manage the tension-filled aftermath of the collision between an American surveillance plane and a Chinese jet near Hainan Island, and the painful political and personal issues raised by the sinking of the Ehime Maru off the coast of O'ahu.

In each of these, Blair exhibited a sure hand and a steady resolve. He set a high standard for his successor, and we wish him well.