Posted on 09/13/2007 2:56:05 AM PDT by tlb
General David Petraeus, expressed long-term interest in running for the US presidency when he was stationed in Baghdad, according to a senior Iraqi official who knew him at that time.
Sabah Khadim, then a senior adviser at Iraq's Interior Ministry, says General Petraeus discussed with him his ambition when the general was head of training and recruitment of the Iraqi army in 2004-05.
"I asked him if he was planning to run in 2008 and he said, 'No, that would be too soon'," Mr Khadim, who now lives in London, said.
General Petraeus has a reputation in the US Army for being a man of great ambition. If he succeeds in reversing America's apparent failure in Iraq, he would be a natural candidate for the White House in the presidential election in 2012.
His able defence of the "surge" in US troop numbers in Iraq as a success before Congress this week has made him the best-known soldier in America. An articulate, intelligent and energetic man, he has always shown skill in managing the media.
But General Petraeus's open interest in the presidency may lead critics to suggest that his own political ambitions have influenced him in putting an optimistic gloss on the US military position in Iraq .
(Excerpt) Read more at uruknet.info ...
From wickipedia- not my choice of sources but here it goes:
Claud Cockburn, born June 6, 1941, is a self-described radical Irish-born journalist who has lived and worked in the United States since 1973. Together with Jeffrey St. Clair he edits the political newsletter CounterPunch. He also writes the "Beat the Devil" column for The Nation and a weekly syndicated column for the Los Angeles Times. Cockburn was also a regular contributor to the Anderson Valley Advertiser....
So if Patrick here is part of Alex's clan of radical Irishmen... it reminds me of James Abourezk of S Dakota...
The smearing continues.
Sabah Khadim said Girlene would be Patreus’s VP. I can’t wait!
Claud Cockburn = Alexander Claud Cockburn
Also, and I think this is another intended result, Hillary's basically calling the General a liar sent the message that Petraeus might as well retire if she is elected, and that military people who are or became aligned behind Petraeus would have no future if she is elected.
First of all, this is, IMO, pure BS!
Second of all, if he did run,I would have no trouble supporting him!
VIPS was involved in the CIA Plame leak thing, Nigerflap, Joe Wilson's little hoax.
Given other news of late this should come as no surprise:
1996 : (SOUTH DAKOTA : JAMES ABOUREZK & ALEXANDER COCKBURN SMEAR REPUBLICAN SENATOR PRESSLER; See JOHN KERRY, COUNTERPUNCH) In 1996, Jim Jordan [see his wife, reporter Lara Jakes Jordan of the AP], campaign manager for Democrat presidential contender Sen. John Kerry (D-MA), was press secretary for Tim Johnson during his challenge to then-incumbent Sen. Larry Pressler (R-SD). The long, negative campaign resulted in the end of the South Dakota Republican's 22 years in Congress. During the campaign, Pressler was dogged by questions about his health, since his father suffered with Alzheimer's disease. But the most damaging attack was delivered by James Abourezk, the man Pressler replaced in the Senate in 1978. Abourezk brought Alexander Cockburn, author of "Washington Babylon" to speak to a Sioux Falls group. In his book, Cockburn alleged that Pressler was a homosexual. Abourezk admitted repeating the story saying, "I told everybody who would listen to me." [John Kerry campaign manager & Tim Johnson press secretary Jim] Jordan allegedly sought to take advantage of the accusations [by former Democrat Senator James Abourezk & Alexander Cockburn against incumbant Senator Republican Larry Pressler, falsely alleging Pressler was gay] , according to a Lisa Lutterman, a Pressler worker. Lutterman told The Mitchell Daily Republic that Jim Jordan was "just ugly, mean spirited and boasting that he would help destroy Larry Pressler." She said Jordan declared that he was "going to take Larry Pressler's liver and rip it out." Although Jordan said that no such conversation "ever took place," South Dakota newspapers followed the story as charges and countercharges kept the scandal alive. Abourezk was quoted giving a [leftwing] magazine some credit for ousting Pressler because of their focus on his "confused private life." He said, "There's no doubt in my mind that 'Counter Punch' gave Pressler his losing margin." ....At the time, the "gay smear" generated little attention outside South Dakota.----- " Claim: Kerry Aide Used Gay Smear to Help Defeat Incumbent Senator ," Talon News ^ | 08/05/03 | Jeff Gannon Washington DC
Check out the sixth paragraph from this Newsweek article.
Different day, same crap ...smears.
Oh Goody, more hairy armpit news. I never trust source like this.
No way, never happened, the Muslim guy is lying!
I’d like to see Rudy select Petraus as his VP.
Patrick Cockburn and his whole family are a bunch of Leftists. Anything he writes will follow the the party line.
This is the second “get Petraeus” post on FR this morning. Very strange, no?
Abourezk
former US Senator James Abourezk, founder of the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee and an outspoken supporter of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), is an IPS trustee.6[ 6 Broken Seals, Op cit., passim; Findley, P., They Dare to Speak Out, Lawrence HIll Books, Chicago, 1989. p. 98] via The Plot to Hijack the CIA, Anti-CommunistAnalyst.com
Associated with IPS | ADC/AADC | PLO | NION | Alexander Cockburn of The Nation, Counterpunch/VIPS | CNSS
I believe that was the Judith Miller/Patrick Fitzgerald connection. Fitzgerald believed Miller gave the Holy Land Foundation advance warning and compromised his investigation.
And believe me, there are liberal disruptors here on FreeRepublic, monitoring us.
Not to mention Dwight Eisenhower, Ulysses Grant, William Henry Harrison, and Andrew Jackson. And, oh yeah, the first ex-general president -- George Washington.
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