WASHINGTON, Aug 3 (Reuters) - The U.S. Senate on Friday confirmed President George W. Bush's choice of Michael Mullen to be his top military adviser, replacing Marine Gen. Peter Pace as chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Mullen, 60, has been serving as chief of Naval operations. Pace was not asked by the Bush administration to serve another term as head of the Joint Chiefs of Staff because of his role in the Iraq war. Politicians and retired generals have blamed Pace and other top officers for not properly planning a post-invasion program for Iraq and for using too few U.S. troops. On Tuesday, Mullen told Congress that he thought the United States would be in Iraq for "years not months" and that a rapid military withdrawal could turn the country into a "caldron."
Anti-war protesters hold pictures of South Koreans killed overseas during a candle-light vigil demanding negotiations between the U.S. government and the Taliban for the safe return of South Korean hostages in Afghanistan, near the U.S. embassy in Seoul, August 4, 2007. The Afghan government and Taliban kidnappers on Saturday sought a venue for negotiations to try to free 21 South Korean Christian hostages held for more than two weeks, the provincial police chief said. The slain Koreans (from L-R) are Kim Sun-il, killed by Iraqi militants in Iraq on June 22, 2004, Yoon Jang-ho, killed in a suicide bomb attack in Afghanistan on February 27, 2007, Bae Hyung-kyu and Shim Sung-min, kidnapped and killed by the Taliban in Afghanistan on July 25, 2007 and on July 31, 2007 respectively. The banner reads: "How many more will be victimized? Stop the war and dispatch of troops which is causing the deaths!"