Whakakiia te rerenga e whai ake nei: I noho a Ralston hei Tumuaki Tuarua o te Joint Chiefs of Staff i te tau 1996. I tino manakohia ia hei Tiamana o te Joint Chiefs of Staff i te 1997, engari i muri i nga whakaaturanga o tetahi mahi muna i noho tonu ia hei Tumuaki Tuarua tae noa ki te Haratua 2000. I muri iho ka noho ia hei Kaiwhakahaere Matua mo te North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) i Uropi tae noa ki te Hanuere 2003 i te wa i reti ai ia. Ka tuhi a Bill Clinton i roto i ana tuhinga "My Life" i whakamahia a Ralston ki te whakatau i tetahi ahuatanga uaua ki Pakistan i reira ka whakamahia e te US te waahi rererangi o Pakistan ki te patu i te hui a te whakahaere Al-Qaeda i Afghanistan whai muri i te whakaekenga o te US ki a Pakistan.
Ko ngā whakaeke i te US Embassy i Kenya me Tanzania. I āwangawanga a U.S. ka taea e nga ratonga matauranga o Pakistan te tohu i nga whaainga, te kino ake ranei, ka whakaaro ko nga missiles i runga i Pakistan i ahu mai i Inia, ka taea te whakaoho i te pakanga karihi i te whenua o Inia. Ka rite ki ta Clinton e tuhituhi ana i te whārangi 799 o "My Life", "i whakatau mātou ki te tono i te tumuaki tuarua o te Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Joe Ralston, ki te kai tahi ki te rangatira hōia o Pakistan i te wā i whakaritea ai ngā whakaeke. Ka korerotia e Ralston ki a ia (te rangatira Pakistani) he aha te mea i tupu i etahi meneti i mua i te whakaekenga o a maatau pere ki te rangi Pakistani, he roa rawa ki te whakatupato i te Taliban, i te Al-Qaeda ranei, engari i te wa tika kia kore ai ratou e pupuhi, kia kore ai ranei e whakaeke i a India. "