Posted on 09/17/2008 8:27:13 AM PDT by milwguy
Five years ago a youthful US army general, with a PhD in international relations and a name that seemed plucked from Herodotus, led the 101st Airborne Division into Mosul in northern Iraq. He had taken part in a stunning military victory, but failed conspicuously to celebrate. “This is a race to win the hearts and minds of the Iraqi people,” he said. “And there are other people in this race. In some cases, they want to kill us.”
General David Petraeus is still not celebrating. But he is leaving Iraq in a state no sober observer would have forecast when he took command of US forces there early last year. He has pacified large parts of a country that had descended into a solar-heated hell of suicide bombings and sectarian carnage. He has salvaged some pride for the US military after Abu Ghraib, and seen himself hailed as America's most trusted and talented commander of the past four decades.
The troop “surge” for which General Petraeus is often credited was in fact the idea of his second-in-command. But he approved it, secured backing for it in Washington and made it work. Crucially, he also co-opted the very Sunni militias that had sabotaged four years of allied reconstruction efforts, and deployed them as a new and deadly vanguard against al-Qaeda.
(Excerpt) Read more at timesonline.co.uk ...
Midgets in the presence of giants.
Because they’re invested in our defeat.
Good point, General Patraeus has received very little credit, he got the hell knocked out of him by Hilde and the Usual Suspects when he testified before the Senate.
Anyone else recall “A willing suspension of disbelief”
or
“Betrayus” from the mentally challenged Moveon crowd?
Yet, he made it work in Iraq.
I am surprised the UK press has time to write nice things about our General, since the UK is so busy allowing Izzlumic law to become law of the land.
There’s a war in IRAQ? Who knew?
No dead soldiers, nothing to report.
Nonetheless, I do take exception to the quote:
'...He has salvaged some pride for the US military after Abu Ghraib...
I liken 'Abu Ghraib' as a Frat prank gone bad... Embarrassing for the few individuals involved (and deserving of some minor discipline), but hardly the excoriating moment that the Media twisted it to be.
If you can’t see the picture, right click on the red x, go to properties, copy the url and put it into your browser.
Since the picture of Petraeus and all his medals won’t come up, guess I will have to discard it. Booohooo.
I like the sound of “President Patraeus.”
I don't think the Brits are particularly 'buzy' allow Islamic law to advance in their country. The reason we have that impression is that those in the British press opposed to Islamization are rightly reporting with alarm the fact that the Muslims have taken advantage of a twelve year old British law permitting decisions of private arbitration panels to be enforced by the courts to insinuate Sharia courts into Britain. The same law has been used by Orthodox Jews to make the decisions of rabbinic courts enforcable, and in theory could be used to allow Christians to bring disputes before a bishop (whether Latin, Anglican, Orthodox, Coptic, . . .) and have the bishop's decision enforcable by the courts.
If they (the liberal media) ever had anything good to say about Gen. Petraeus in their columns, they would be admitting that they were wrong about Iraq!
Remember the “The war is lost!!!” shrill that Harry Reid and other Democrats made before the surge?
The liberal media is in the tank for the Defeat of America and especially the Defeat of our brave military!
They will NEVER admit what a great mind Gen. Petraeus has and what a great person he is!!
Thank you for an excellent, positive post, milwguy.
Careful.
The last general we called "president" invented the phrase "military-industrial complex", and it took Kennedy to reverse the deterioration of the only means that a world power has to back up its label.
For some reason, once retired, senility takes over most of our recent retired generals. It's like everything they ever learned self-destructs. Perhaps it's their inability to perform in the alien political environment...
Agreed-however,I think he’s special,but I won’t wish a campaign on him in the present environment.
I believe most adults know that.
When that is the worst thing the opposition can keep hammering on, the administration can focus on the truly important things. What is on my mind?
The truly scary stuff, like 800 missing FBI files, affecting and controling the entire Congress for a decade.
Fortunately, those criminals are doing hard time for their manipulation of our entire system of government. As are the doofuses who uttered, "Stroke of the pen, law of the land! Is that cool or what?
What stinkin' Constitution?
Right?
Right?
.... hello...
Is this thing on?
PhD in International Relations from Princeton.
And a staunch conservative.
Not bad.
I haven't forgotten that either. It was amazing how the Republican Congress changed overnight - from the 'Contract with America' crew - to 'the go along to get along pals with Clinton' (and odd how all of this damaging information on various Republicans got released during Mr. Clinton's impeachment).
Yes, the DNC-Media ('Party above Country') was certainly quiet over the FBI file theft...
But when anything that might pop up to embarrass America (such as the Abu Grahb incident) - it'll be plastered on the headlines of the papers for months...
That is the hallmark of the classic leader, who believes that the military is a team, not only from the bottom up, but surrounds himself with the best available minds.
I love it when that type of leadership works.
Just for the record, who was that "second in command?"
zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz
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