Petraeus returns to war that is now his own

WashPost ^

[STARWISE]

He sat absolutely still as members of Congress discussed his credibility and patriotism. His face did not twitch. He did not nod or frown or smile. Not a single muscle moved. He was as impassive as a boot-camp recruit resisting a drill sergeant's provocations.

Navigating the political shoals of Washington last week was a challenge unlike any Gen. David Petraeus has faced. At his Senate confirmation hearing in January, he was widely regarded as the quintessential military professional, a credible, independent voice who stood above the political fray.

*snip*

Partisans tried to portray him either as a politicized officer carrying water for the White House or as the savior of an unpopular war.

*snip*

"Up until this week, it was Rumsfeld's war," said retired Army Lt. Col. James Jay Carafano, referring to former Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld. "Now, for better or worse, it's Dave's war."

*snip*

Petraeus, who holds

*** a doctorate from Princeton,***

is no political naif, and he emerged with even Democrats praising his professionalism. Yet he now is the symbol of a deeply unpopular war and, to critics, his generation's Gen. William Westmoreland.

"He's more charismatic, to be sure, but he is exactly in the same position Westy was in in 1967 ...."

*snip*

Eli Pariser, MoveOn's executive director, said Petraeus was fair game. "If you have a general who is being willfully misleading to the public and the Congress about the state of a military endeavor, that's a big problem," he said.

*snip*

... Tom Engelhardt, a fellow at the Nation Institute, called Petraeus "the Paris Hilton of generals" — that is, "a vain media darling with almost no credibility." Jon Stewart, host of Comedy Central's "The Daily Show," summarized Petraeus' testimony as meaning that "the president's been right the whole time."

[STARWISE]

How to these miserable, vicious cretins sleep at night?

And, now we've apprently got military egos in play, with Adm Fallon opposing Gen. Petraeus' plan. Just what we need .. dammmm.

~~~~~~~~

"For two hours, President Bush listened to contrasting visions of the U.S. future in Iraq. Gen. David Petraeus dominated the conversation by video link from Baghdad, making the case to keep as many troops as long as possible.

Adm. William Fallon, his superior, argued instead for taking more risks to have enough forces available to confront other potential threats."

In an interview, Fallon disputed that description but declined to offer details. Nonetheless, his efforts offended Petraeus' team and exacerbated a schism between the two.

"Bad relations?" a senior civilian official laughed. "That's the understatement of the century. ... If you think Armageddon was a riot, that's one way of looking at it."

~~~~~~~~

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On another note, it appears that his son, Stephen, is facing potential war zone duty. IMO, this lends even more credibility and integrity to his testimony before congress (small c is purposeful).

Petraeus visits Benning en route to D.C.

~~~~~~~

Lord, help us ... and bless and protect this and all our brave and brilliant warriors and allies.

[popdonnelly]

“How to these miserable, vicious cretins sleep at night?”

Simple. They tell themselves they are right, and any other point of view is wrong. The self-righteous sleep very well at night.

[SevenMinusOne]

Yet he now is the symbol of a deeply unpopular war

No "war" is popular, for starters - With that said, this is simply part of the DEM spinning MSM.....The current WOT/Iraq is not "deeply unpopular" by any stretch....anymore so than was WWI, WWII, or Korea.

This constant "deeply unpopular" spin is simply a false premise.

The WH and RNC need to start calling people out on this. Start saying "losing the WOT is even a more unpopular concept with the American public".

The WH and RNC need to start coming out on the offensive. Stop debating from false premises when it comes to the WOT/Iraq. Start touting our successes and putting our difficulties in context (while providing avenues for success within those difficulties).

[Tarpon]

Dopey story, but illustrates the odd view of the leftists and the war on terror. Using their assumptions, I assume Gen Petraeus commands Afghanistan, does the wiretapping and runs the FBI, etc.... These leftist twits are not very good at national defense, are they.

[Turret Gunner A20]

re: # 1

Howard Zinn, a leftist scholar, said debate about Petraeus's role is not surprising: "When I listen to Petraeus, I hear the generals of Vietnam assuring us that they are winning.

He's not much of a scholar if he doesn't know that our military was winning the war -- it was the leftist politicians, following Cronkite and his ilk who lost that war. And their leftist heirs are trying their damndest to lose this one.

[STARWISE]

Exactly .... the 60’s hippies are just relishing VietNam redux. Watch for more tie-dyed shirts on the streets.

[Irish Eyes]

God’s speed and protection for Gen. Petraeus a very brave and honorable man.

[Brilliant]

“Petraeus returns to war that is now his own”

If he wins it, you can be certain that the Dems will be the first to claim that credit, and the media will go right along.

[river rat]

"Watch for more tie-dyed shirts on the streets."

Perhaps...

But THIS TIME -- there will be a bunch of grey bearded, bald headed and pot bellied old warriors out their waiting for the long awaited "confrontation"

[shield]

General David 'King David' Petraeus is an honorable man. We all know it. He's a 4-star...he knows his enemies...the FREAK SHOW last week was another type of enemy...but an enemy. He was taught all his years in the military how to conduct himself against an enemy. Petraeus did an outstanding job, as he's been taught.

Who's war are they going to call the coming war with Iran when we'll have help from France, England, Australia?

[MNJohnnie]

Guess I will take a ground pounder and Counter Insurgency experts assessment over a Navy Admiral’s. With all due respect to the Adm, he is off his turf no matter how much Joint Service time he has under his belt.

Counter Insurgency is not Total War. Too many of the Conventional Military commanders cannot get that thru their heads. People like Fallon are trying to apply conventional doctrine to an asymmetrical war problem.

[MNJohnnie]

Notice how these “reporters” always just manage to have some “senior” source to back up their claims.

I suggest Conservatives should quit falling for this lame propaganda tactic of the failed Media. Unless the source goes on the record, you can assume these reports are exaggerated or false.

Same way “secret” military sources supposed told the NY Times in July “Bush is going to close Gitmo” this is probably just another lie

[rodguy911]

Great thread Star and thanks for posting it!

I have said it before and will keep saying it we owe Gen. David Petraeus a debt of gratitude for his stellar service to the country.

His wisdom, brilliance at tactical command, sheer stealth in dealing with L/W to mid-commie types in Congress to killing terror types is unparalleled in our history.He is a true hero/leader and should be treated as such.

[uncbob]

"He's more charismatic, to be sure, but he is exactly in the same position Westy was in in 1967 ...."

With his hands tied as far as attacking sanctuaries in Iran

[RobbyS]

Army and Navy never quite jell. Recall MacArthur and Nimitz. Fallon is a big war type, from the Pacific and more focused on that than on Southwest Asia. Don’t imagine he likes having his boats in the Persian Gulf. But we will see what we will see.

[ArtyFO]

I seem to remember Fallon kowtowing to Beijing last year after a chinese sub surfaced unexpectedly within the security zone of an American carrier muttering “We knew you were there. We just didn’t want to create an international incident.” Looks like he wants to kiss the asses of our enemies.

[STARWISE]

Ya shouldn’t judge people by their looks, but he’s got a weasly look to me .... (slap me .. ;)

[ArtyFO]

Fallon has stated that there will be no war with Iran on his watch. Look to see this clown retire soon. He is a chicken.

[ArtyFO]

His nickname is “Fox”. He is a weasel.

[STARWISE]

He was amazing, was he not? Was he interrogated by Murtha? If so, I missed it ... what say you ..? ;)