Lieutenant General Ralston in the cockpit of his airplane in Alaska.Ralston is sworn in as Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff by Secretary of Defense William Cohen.
Former U.S. president Bill Clinton writes in his memoirs My Life that Ralston was used to resolve a potentially sticky situation with Pakistan in which the U.S. would use Pakistani airspace to strike at the Al-Qaeda organization meeting in Afghanistan following the U.S. Embassy bombings in Kenya and Tanzania. There was U.S. concern that Pakistan's intelligence services would tip off the targets or even worse assume the missiles over Pakistan came from India, potentially triggering a nuclear conflict on the Indian subcontinent. As Clinton writes on page 799 of My Life, "we decided to send the vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Joe Ralston, to have dinner with the top Pakistani military commander at the time the attacks were scheduled. Ralston would tell him (the Pakistani general) what was happening a few minutes before our missiles invaded Pakistani airspace, too late to alert the Taliban or Al-Qaeda, but in time to avoid having them shot down or sparking a counterattack on India."
In September 2006, Ralston was assigned as Special Envoy for Countering the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) by U.S. president George W. Bush.[7] The PKK is a Kurdish armed militant group designated as a terrorist organization by the United States, Turkey and the European Union.
Ralston was one of at least three retired four-star generals asked by the Bush administration to oversee both wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Ralston and the two other generals, however, all declined this position.[8]
In 1997, Ralston was the top candidate to succeed John M. Shalikashvili as Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff in 1997 when it became public that Ralston had an extramarital affair with a married civilian CIA employee during the 1980s. Ralston said he and his wife were separated at the time while his wife said that the affair continued afterwards and led to their divorce.[10][5] Defense Secretary William Cohen declared that Ralston's relationship 13 years ago would not "automatically disqualify" him from becoming the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff,[11] resulting in accusations of a double standard for high-ranking military officers while lower ranks were punished. A month earlier, the first female B-52 pilot, First Lieutenant Kelly Flinn, had been forced to resign from the Air Force with a general discharge after having been charged with adultery.[10][5] Ralston eventually withdrew his name from consideration.[12]
Alleged conflicts of interest
Ralston held various senior positions in defense and security-related corporations, simultaneously with his diplomatic role as "anti PKK coordinator". Critics said Ralston was using his influence as special envoy to secure large government weapons contracts for arms maker Lockheed Martin where he was on the board of directors.[13] Besides, he was also on the advisory board of the American Turkish Council (ATC).[13] The Boston Globe described him as "an arms merchant in diplomat's clothing."[14]
In October 2006, the Kurdish National Congress of North America issued a press release demanding "the immediate resignation" of General Joseph Ralston:[15]
Ralston's appointment came at a time when Turkey was finalizing the sale of 30 new Lockheed MartinF-16 Fighting Falcon aircraft (approx. $3 billion) and as Turkey was due to make a decision on the $10 billion purchase of the new Lockheed Martin F-35 JSF aircraft. The sale for the F-16's was approved by the United States Congress in mid-October and Turkey's decision in favor of the F-35 JSF was announced on October 25, shortly after Ralston's recent stay in Ankara, ostensibly to counter the PKK.
Since the PKK insurgency began in 1983, 30,000 people have died and over 3,000 Kurdish villages have been destroyed, often by U.S. supplied planes.[16] Critics are concerned that hard line anti-PKK policies influenced by conflicting interests would compromise the prospects for longterm solution to the Kurdish–Turkish issue.[17]
On October 1, 2006, the PKK announced a unilateral cease-fire in south-east Turkey, a move that the Turkish government has rejected:[18]
The PKK had to stop fighting anyway because of the winter, but the PKK, backed by Iraqi Kurds, are acting as if this were a major political decision, not a move dictated by a practical necessity. Of course, we don't take it seriously.
Speaking before the Eurasian Strategic Research Center (ASAM) in Istanbul, Ralston mirrored the Turkish government's rhetoric :[19]
I want to be clear on this point: The US will not negotiate with the PKK. We will not ask Turkey to negotiate with the PKK. And I pledge to you that I will never meet with the PKK.
June 1976 – July 1979, Tactical Fighter Requirements Officer, Office of the Deputy Chief of Staff for Research and Development, Headquarters U.S. Air Force, Washington, D.C.
July 1980 – August 1983, Special Assistant, later, Executive Officer to the commander, Headquarters Tactical Air Command, Langley Air Force Base, Virginia
June 1984 – February 1986, Special Assistant for low observable technology, Office of the Deputy Chief of Staff for Research, Development and Acquisition, Headquarters U.S. Air Force, Washington, D.C.
March 1987 – June 1990, Assistant Deputy Chief of Staff for Operations, later, Deputy Chief of Staff for Requirements, Headquarters Tactical Air Command, Langley Air Force Base, Virginia
June 1990 – December 1991, Director of Tactical Programs, Office of the Assistant Secretary of the Air Force for Acquisition, Washington, D.C.
December 1991 – July 1992, Director of Operational Requirements, Office of the Deputy Chief of Staff for Plans and Operations, Headquarters U.S. Air Force, Washington, D.C.
In 2003, Ralston received the Atlantic Council Leadership Award.[25]
References
^ a b"Biographical and Financial Information Requested of Nominees". Hearings before the Committee on Armed Services, United States Senate. U.S. Government Printing Office. 2000. p. 483. ISBN 9780160610097. Retrieved March 28, 2021.
^"Appointment of Special Envoy for Countering the PKK". August 30, 2006.
^"Are U.S.-Turkey Ties Seriously Frayed?". NPR.
^"The Chairmanship of the Joint Chiefs of Staff 1949–2012" (PDF). Office of the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Retrieved November 7, 2021.
^ a b cHenneberger, Melinda; Becker, Elizabeth (August 4, 1999). "For a Scandal-Scarred General, the Gleam Appears to Be Back on the Brass". The New York Times. Retrieved November 7, 2021.
^"Retired general joins CSIS". UPI. March 10, 2003. Retrieved November 7, 2021.
^"Ralston, Joseph W". Archived from the original on January 9, 2008. Retrieved June 24, 2017.
^Baker, Peter; Ricks, Thomas E. (April 11, 2007). "3 Generals Spurn the Position of War 'Czar'". Washington Post. Retrieved July 17, 2007.
^"Biography — Joseph W. Ralston". Lockheed Martin. Archived from the original on March 27, 2020. Retrieved July 17, 2007.
^ a b"ADULTERATED STANDARDS". Time magazine. June 16, 1997. Archived from the original on September 30, 2007. Retrieved November 8, 2021.
^"Online NewsHour: Ralston Quits as Joint Chiefs Candidate – June 9, 1997". Duke Law. Archived from the original on June 29, 2007. Retrieved July 17, 2007.
^"Ralston withdraws name from consideration". CNN. June 9, 1997. Retrieved November 8, 2021.
^ a bSkutnabb-Kangas, Tove; Fernandes, Desmond (April 2008). "Kurds in Turkey and in (Iraqi) Kurdistan: a Comparison of Kurdish Educational Language Policy in Two Situations of Occupation". Genocide Studies and Prevention. 3: 62. doi:10.3138/gsp.3.1.43.
^McKiernan, Kevin (November 1, 2006). "An undiplomatic conflict of interest". Boston Globe. Archived from the original on May 11, 2008. Retrieved November 8, 2021.
^"Demanding the Immediate Resignation of General Ralston as Special" (PDF). Kurdish National Congress of North America. Archived from the original (PDF) on August 12, 2007. Retrieved July 17, 2007.
^"Realism Triumphant — Arming the Usual Suspects in Turkey and India". Guerrilla News Network. Archived from the original on March 16, 2008. Retrieved July 17, 2007.
^"Damage Control Firm Takes Quiet Interest as Former US General Is Charged with Turkish Profiteering". balkanalysis. Retrieved July 17, 2007.
^"PKK and Iraqi Kurds are 'one and the same,' Turk military believes". Turkish Daily News. Archived from the original on September 30, 2007. Retrieved July 17, 2007.
^"MYTHS ABOUT THE PKK AND THE UNITED STATES". US Consulate Istanbul. Archived from the original on August 13, 2007. Retrieved July 17, 2007.
^"Distinguished Alumni". Tau Kappa Epsilon. Retrieved November 11, 2023.
^"Embassy of France in the US-Honoring American officers in the name of the President of the French Republic". Archived from the original on September 27, 2006. Retrieved March 28, 2007.
^"Kotkaristi I klassi orden". Estonia Government. February 2006. Archived from the original on March 16, 2008. Retrieved February 25, 2008.
^"2019 Summit Highlights Photo". 2019. General Joseph W. Ralston, USA, former Supreme Allied Commander Europe, presents the Golden Plate Award to Marillyn A. Hewson, the Chairman, President and CEO of Lockheed Martin, at the Banquet of the Golden Plate gala.
This article incorporates public domain material from General Joseph W. Ralston. United States Air Force. Archived from the original on June 13, 2009.