***Update: Video of Gates presser at HA.***

Hmmm…

Defense Secretary Robert Gates announced Friday he has recommended Adm. Mike Mullen, currently chief of naval operations, to become the next chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

Gates said that Mullen has the “vision strategic insight and integrity to lead America’s armed forces.”

If formally appointed by President Bush and confirmed by the Senate, Mullen would replace Marine Gen. Peter Pace as the nation’s top military officer…Gates said that until recently, he had intended to renominate the Marine general for another two years.

But he said that after consulting with senators in both parties, he had concluded that “the focus of his confirmation process would have been on the past and not on the future.”

Who is Adm. Mullen?

Mullen, a 1968 graduate of the Naval Academy, became the Navy’s top sailor July 22, 2005.

From 2004 to May 2005, he served as commander, U.S. Naval Forces Europe and Joint Forces, Naples. As a flag officer, Mullen served as director of the Navy’s Surface Warfare Division, deputy chief of naval operations for resources, requirements and assessments, and vice chief of naval operations from 2003 to 2004.

What’s behind the decision to show Gen. Pace the door? Democratic threats:

A senior Democratic source within the Senate Armed Services Committee confirmed to NBC that Democrats had made it clear that Pace would have been challenged.

NBC News’ Pentagon correspondent Jim Miklaszewski said that critics were calling Gates’ announcement phase two of the administration’s attempt to clean house at the Pentagon after Donald Rumsfeld was forced to resign as defense secretary last November.

Some Pentagon and military officials have quietly criticized Pace for not standing up to Rumsfeld and being what they considered blindly supportive of the former secretary, Miklaszewski reported.

And now, back to your regularly scheduled Paris Hilton Important Breaking News Feeding Frenzy…

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