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Sunday Morning Talk Show Thread 23 September 2007
Various big media television networks ^ | 23 September 2007 | Various Self-Serving Politicians and Big Media Screaming Faces

Posted on 09/23/2007 4:57:33 AM PDT by Alas Babylon!

The Talk Shows



Sunday, September 23rd, 2007

Guests to be interviewed today on major television talk shows:

FOX NEWS SUNDAY (Fox Network): Sen. Hillary Clinton, D-N.Y., former House Speaker Newt Gingrich and filmmaker Ken Burns.

MEET THE PRESS (NBC): Mrs. Clinton and former Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan.

FACE THE NATION (CBS): Mrs. Clinton.

THIS WEEK (ABC): Mrs. Clinton and Burns.

LATE EDITION (CNN) : Mrs. Clinton; Health and Human Services Secretary Mike Leavitt; French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner; Sen. Chuck Hagel, R-Neb.; former national security adviser Zbigniew Brzezinski; former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger.


TOPICS: Breaking News; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: brzezinski; gingrich; greenspan; guests; hillary; kenburns; kissinger; kouchner; leavitt; lineup; news; sunday; talkshows
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To: CedarDave

She’s holding court in her New York state castle. No sign of Bill, no family portrait, no Bill dropping by to say “Hi.”

%%%%%

Which is just one more lie -> that she lives in NY. Her home is in DC. Bill’s home is in NY. I bet Bill has not spent more than a half-dozen nights at the DC house.


481 posted on 09/23/2007 2:28:14 PM PDT by maica (America will be a hyperpower that's all hype and no power -- if we do not prevail in Iraq)
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To: holden
She told Russert she voted to condemn the ad

There's a fat lie with which she can be clobbered at the most opportune time(s)! But will she?

Hillary voted for the Dhimmicrat alternative which denounced all "personal attack" ads, specifically mentioning the Swift Boat ads (which truthfully pointed out Kerry's disgusting treason when he lied to Congress about US troops in Vietnam) and the ads accusing Max Cleland of being soft on defense (includes link to ad), particularly domestic security measures (which he was).

You see, it depends on what the definition of "the ad" is.

482 posted on 09/23/2007 2:42:29 PM PDT by Phsstpok (When you don't know where you are, but you don't care, you're not lost, you're exploring!)
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To: rodguy911

She has the advantage of not having a solid core

^^^^^

Her solid core is totally Marxist. But she is definitely not as ‘charismatic’ as her husband, the living Elvis. She constantly has ‘tells’ of projection. She blames conservatives for doing what she and her criminal conspiracy do. I just wish that Republicans would take advantage of these “tells” and attack her. Just a little courage from Republicans would go a long way to push back at her.


483 posted on 09/23/2007 2:49:14 PM PDT by maica (America will be a hyperpower that's all hype and no power -- if we do not prevail in Iraq)
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To: Phsstpok

I have yet to see the interview. I usually watch at 6am but hillary was dumped -— NFL!!! I have just a few minutes now to listen and watch this person who may well be out next President, this person who could not manage her own home now wants to manage my home.


484 posted on 09/23/2007 2:53:59 PM PDT by malia (PRESIDENT BUSH*** Rush*, Beck * Free Republic *and posts & links by SandRat *)
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To: malia

Ok, it is now time for President Bush to answer this woman!

When he/she talks about how President Bush has failed, has ignored the safety of our men and women - it has to be answered.

It has to be told how NOTHING was done to prevent the strong hold the terrorist made during the 90’s. And the catch-up President Bush has had.

And never forget hillary called General Peterus a LIAR!!!

Oh my ...... just to listen to her closing cackle and to think this may be what we hear for the next 8 years.


485 posted on 09/23/2007 3:23:22 PM PDT by malia (PRESIDENT BUSH*** Rush*, Beck * Free Republic *and posts & links by SandRat *)
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To: spacejunkie

I thought I was watching an Infomercial. At least Moveon had to pay some money to the NYT. Hillary didn’t have to pay a dime.


486 posted on 09/23/2007 3:23:59 PM PDT by lara
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To: Morgan in Denver
Wow great stuff, you have her MO down pat.

I just watched her do everything you said on the rerun of FNsunday with Wallace who looked like a paper boy delivering the paper while she read it to him.

Now that you mention it Fred is sorta doing that, acting Reaganesque without referring to himself as RR.

I too think that we should get one house back with the congress’s approval rating at 11% and falling.

487 posted on 09/23/2007 3:24:24 PM PDT by rodguy911 (Support The New media, Ticket the Drive-bys, --America-The land of the Free because of the Brave-)
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To: mountainfolk
What a post! You covered everything and brilliantly so.
488 posted on 09/23/2007 3:26:01 PM PDT by rodguy911 (Support The New media, Ticket the Drive-bys, --America-The land of the Free because of the Brave-)
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To: Bahbah

Sorry about that, got it wrong, he’s still a great hero as far as I am concerned.It was a great hour for FNC,hope you got to see it.


489 posted on 09/23/2007 3:29:11 PM PDT by rodguy911 (Support The New media, Ticket the Drive-bys, --America-The land of the Free because of the Brave-)
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To: rodguy911
hope you got to see it.

I did. Loved every minute. He is an extraordinary man.

490 posted on 09/23/2007 3:31:19 PM PDT by Bahbah
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To: maica
Just a little courage from Republicans would go a long way to push back at her.

Sad to say just how true this is.Maybe if we say it enough they will get it in DC.

But its not only with her, with everything political. We have been tidal waved by the rats.(in part due to the biased press) Our side in congress really does need to speak out more often and more vocally. In short we need to kick some ass around in DC!!

491 posted on 09/23/2007 3:34:01 PM PDT by rodguy911 (Support The New media, Ticket the Drive-bys, --America-The land of the Free because of the Brave-)
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To: Fishtalk
This guy is not only a RINO, he’s a lying conniver as well.

I agree. I'd add that he's a fraud as well. His "legend" or reputation of being tough on terrorists is a myth, too.

The truth will come out.

If he gets the GOP nomination, it will certainly come out, with a vengeance, courtesy of his friends in the MSM and Hillary. /grin

492 posted on 09/23/2007 3:51:51 PM PDT by tarheelswamprat
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To: mountainfolk

Her appearance on Fox today with Chris Wallace was nothing but a show piece. Chris Wallace is the son of his father, who is a democrat. I believe chris is one too. So her appearance had to be in front of someone who believes very much like her, on a so-called fair media outlet, Fox. He handed her soft ball questions, she flim flammed him and she took over the show. He lost control very early in the game. This was a no-brainer of equality news.


493 posted on 09/23/2007 5:11:14 PM PDT by tillacum
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To: TomGuy; maica; grace522; Right_in_Virginia; Laverne; Carolinamom; spacejunkie; rodguy911; ...
Brit thinks Chris asked tough questions. [Sad. Brit, you know better!!!]

I have never been so disappointed in Brit, trying to tell us she did great. Kristol did MUCH better than Brit.

Bottom line: the Botch did not give one straight anwer to any question. Even ones that could have been answered "yes" or "no".

I think she has memorized mini speeches on various subjects and can and does spit them out when she hears a particular cue word in a question.

(Yes, I also think she had a prompter going and maybe whoever was running the prompter plugged in the same little speeches she memorized just in case.)

As Capt Ron said, she has yet to answer the actual question. If she hears "divisive" or "polarizing", she squirts out the one about getting Republican votes in New York state and how big her margin of victory was. I heard her repeat that speech, but I don't know if it was word for word.

When she heard the cues about voting not to rebuke MoveOn.Org for their ad, she spat out the speech about voting FOR the BS CYA bill to condemn people who say bad things about military or ex-military like Kerry and Max Cleland. She repeated that one twice on MTP and I think twice again on FNS. And she never differentiated that the claims against Kerry and Cleland were accurate and the MoveOn.Org ones were totally made up.

There were lots of others that got repeated, my point being that she repeated the same scripts over and over whether they matched the questions or not. Let's watch for it and point it out to less political people. I think when they see that for themselves, they'll have the right reactions. (I hope.)

She was like those little kid toys where you pull a string and one of several recorded sayings comes out. The only difference was that she went on and on and on.

Frankly MEGO and I found it hard to pay attention to the droning which is why I'm not sure if she repeated word for word or just pretty damn close to it.

I agree with rodguy911 that she'll try to pull that bit about I already answered that long ago on MTP, Steffy, FTN etc. Somebody has to pop up and say, "Very few people watch that crap. Would you please let the majority of American voters know ______."

I also agree with everyone who thought her laugh was harsh and grating (somebody called it her Howard Dean Scream), not a nice round belly laugh that sounded like she was actually amused. She also didn't look too good when she just talked right over Mikey's boy and, frankly, he looked like he was being run over by a tank.

(I have to admit that he and others annoy me when they interrupt the answer to the very question they asked the guest and sometimes I enjoy it when somebody just shuts them down, but I prefer it when the person confronts them on the interruption instead of just plowing on in their Panzer.)

Finally, as others have pointed out, she just plain straight out lied through her excrement stained teeth and was NOT called on it. We all saw her with our own eyes and heard her with our own ears when she called General Petraeus a liar. I know she didn't say "liar", but anybody who thinks that's not what she meant wasn't paying attention or is too stupid, dishonest or both to bother arguing with. And then, today, she tells us how she has nothing but the utmost respect for him.

Brit, we saw it and heard it with our own eyes and ears and we're just not as stupid as you need us to be for us to accept that she did great when all she did was dodge the real questions and just plain lie.

494 posted on 09/23/2007 5:28:18 PM PDT by Sal (My "good" Senator Kyl exposed himself as a Grand Betrayer, corrupt to the core!)
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To: The Spirit Of Allegiance
Re: Columbia (formerly a prestigious university) and Ahmadamnutjob whose hands are dripping with the blood of our young men and women in Iraq.

If I thought actual rational and intelligent students were going to grill him with penetrating questions, I'd be OK with this and it would be quite an eye opener for nutjob.

What I can't get out of my mind is the memory of the brain-dead little fascist thugs who physically prevented the man from the Minutemen from speaking a short while ago.

I expect the place to be packed with the fascist thugs and normal people will get no chance to speak, or the thugs will get ugly with the decent people and nutjob will have the time of his life.

I'd love to be proved wrong.

495 posted on 09/23/2007 5:40:43 PM PDT by Sal (My "good" Senator Kyl exposed himself as a Grand Betrayer, corrupt to the core!)
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To: Eagles Talon IV
IMO it is a good thing to let her ramble and spit out talking points as she inevitably does. People are not stupid and can see that a question has been asked and left unanswered.

That's what I was thinking too, but then Brit Hume came on and talked about how she did such a good job. Hopefully people will trust their own lying eyes and ears instead of the stooges. I'm not sure when (or why) Brit became one of them.

496 posted on 09/23/2007 5:44:29 PM PDT by Sal (My "good" Senator Kyl exposed himself as a Grand Betrayer, corrupt to the core!)
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To: Phsstpok
The silliest thing to come out of the whole incident is CNN and some of the other dinosaur media saying that the Blackwater folks attacked “civilians” with no provocation, that there was no terrorist attack on the convoy they were guarding. They say this while at the same time they’re showing video of the burned out car from the convoy that was hit by the terrorists. The mind boggles!

You'd be less boggled if you understood that anyone not in a US uniform is a civilian and innocent of anything they might be doing or have just done.

Oh wait... Americans in civilian clothes are not civilians and are never innocent in any way. I hope that helps.

497 posted on 09/23/2007 5:50:35 PM PDT by Sal (My "good" Senator Kyl exposed himself as a Grand Betrayer, corrupt to the core!)
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To: doug from upland
Her phony smile is disgusting. As she moves her head up and down while Chris is asking a question, she looks like a bobble head doll.

Interestingly, while she gives her non-responsive answers, her head shakes back and forth as if she's saying, "no".

498 posted on 09/23/2007 5:53:21 PM PDT by Sal (My "good" Senator Kyl exposed himself as a Grand Betrayer, corrupt to the core!)
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To: rodguy911

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,297745,00.html

New York Times Public Editor Rebukes MoveOn.org’s Petraeus Ad

Really bad news when even your own Ombudsman sides with your critics


499 posted on 09/23/2007 7:49:30 PM PDT by MNJohnnie (http://www.vetsforfreedom.org/)
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To: rodguy911; Bahbah
General Petraus has an awesome bio.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Petraeus

David Howell Petraeus (born November 7, 1952) is a general in the United States Army and commander of Multi-National Force—Iraq (MNF-I), the four-star post that oversees all U.S. forces in the country. He was confirmed to that position by the Senate in a vote of 81–0 on January 26, 2007. He replaced General George Casey who was subsequently confirmed as Chief of Staff of the United States Army. In his new position, Petraeus oversees all coalition forces in Iraq and carries out the new Iraqi strategy plan outlined by the Bush administration.[1][2] Casey relinquished command in Iraq to Petraeus on February 10, 2007. The change of command was presided over by General John Abizaid, then commander of United States Central Command.

Petraeus was the General George C. Marshall Award winner as the top graduate of the U.S. Army Command and General Staff College—class of 1983.[citation needed] He subsequently earned a Master of Public Administration (1985) and a Ph.D. (1987) in International Relations from the Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs at Princeton University. He later served as Assistant Professor of International Relations at the U.S. Military Academy, and also completed a fellowship at Georgetown University. He has a BS from the U.S. Military Academy—class of 1974.

Early years

David Petraeus was born in 1952 to Dutch American parents. His father, Sixtus, was a sea captain who had emigrated to the United States from the Netherlands. Some reports have it before[3] World War II and some after.[4] He grew up in Cornwall on Hudson, New York, and graduated from Cornwall Central High School in 1970.

Petraeus then went on to the U.S. Military Academy in nearby West Point. Petraeus was on the intercollegiate soccer and ski teams, was a cadet captain on the brigade staff, and was a “distinguished cadet” academically, graduating in the top 5% of the Class of 1974 (ranked 43rd overall). In the class yearbook, Petraeus was remembered as “always going for it in sports, academics, leadership, and even his social life.”[5]

Two months after graduation Petraeus married Holly Knowlton, a graduate from Dickinson College and daughter of retired Army General William A. Knowlton who was superintendent of the U.S. Military Academy (West Point) at the time. They have two grown children.

Army career

Upon his graduation from West Point in 1974, he was commissioned an infantry officer. He began his career with an assignment to a light infantry unit, the 509th Airborne Infantry Battalion at Vicenza, Italy; ever since, light infantry has been at the core of his career, punctuated by assignments to mechanized units, command staffs, and educational institutions.

After leaving the 509th as a first lieutenant, Petraeus began a brief association with mechanized units when he became assistant operations officer on the staff of the 2nd Brigade, 24th Infantry Division (Mechanized) at Fort Stewart, Georgia, and in 1979, when he was promoted to captain, he was charged with a company in the same division: Company A, 2nd Battalion, 19th Infantry Regiment (Mechanized). Later, in 1978–1979, he also served as operations officer to the 3rd Infantry Division (Mechanized)’s 1st Battalion, 30th Infantry Regiment (Mechanized) and its 1st Brigade. In 1981, Petraeus became aide-de-camp to the 24th Infantry Division (Mechanized)’s commanding general. [6]

Petraeus left the 24th’s 19th Infantry to continue the higher education he began at West Point, earning the General George C. Marshall Award as the top graduate of the U.S. Army Command and General Staff College Class of 1983 at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas. He subsequently earned a MPA and a Ph.D. in international relations from Princeton University’s Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs in 1985 and 1987, respectively, and later served as an Assistant Professor of International Relations at the U.S. Military Academy. His doctoral dissertation, “The American Military and the Lessons of Vietnam: A Study of Military Influence and the Use of Force in the Post-Vietnam Era,” dealt with the influence of the Vietnam War on military thinking regarding the use of force.[7] He also completed a military fellowship at Georgetown’s School of Foreign Service in 1994–1995, although he was called away early to serve in Haiti.

After earning his Ph.D. and teaching at West Point, Petraeus continued up the rungs of the command ladder, serving as military assistant to Gen. John Galvin, the Supreme Allied Commander in Europe. From there, he moved to the 3rd Infantry Division (Mechanized) and then to a post as aide and assistant executive officer to the U.S. Army Chief of Staff, Gen. Carl Vuono, in Washington, D.C. He would return to the Pentagon in 1997–1999 as Executive Assistant to the Director of the Joint Staff and then to the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs, Gen. Henry Shelton.

Upon promotion to lieutenant colonel, Petraeus moved from the office of the Chief of Staff to Fort Campbell, Kentucky, where he commanded the 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault)’s 3rd Battalion, 187th Infantry Regiment from 1991–1993. As battalion commander of the Iron Rakkasans, he suffered one of the more dramatic incidents in his career when, in 1991, he was accidentally shot in the chest during a live-fire exercise when a soldier tripped and his rifle discharged. He was taken to Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, Tennessee, where he was operated on by future Senator Bill Frist. The hospital released him early after he did fifty push ups without resting, just a few days after the accident. [8][9]

During 1993–1994, Petraeus continued his long association with the 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault) as the division’s Assistant Chief of Staff, G-3 (plans, operations and training) and installation Director of Plans, Training, and Mobilization (DPTM). His next command, from 1995–1997, was the 1st Brigade, 82nd Airborne Division, centered on the 504th Parachute Infantry Regiment. At that post, his brigade’s training cycle at Fort Polk’s Joint Readiness Training Center for low-intensity warfare was chronicled by novelist and military enthusiast Tom Clancy in his book “Airborne.” In 1999, as a brigadier general, Petraeus returned to the 82nd, serving as the assistant division commander for operations and then, briefly, as acting commanding general. From the 82nd, he moved on to serve as Chief of Staff of XVIII Airborne Corps at Fort Bragg during 2000–2001. In 2000, Petraeus suffered his second major injury, when, during a civilian skydiving jump, his parachute collapsed at low altitude due to a hook turn, resulting in a hard landing that broke his pelvis.

Peacekeeping

Although Petraeus did not see combat before his 2003 deployment to Iraq, he completed three overseas assignments short of war earlier in his career. In 1995, his Georgetown fellowship was cut short when he was assigned to the United Nations Mission in Haiti Military Staff as its Chief Military Operations Officer during Operation Uphold Democracy. Four years later, as assistant division commander for operations, he deployed with the 82nd Airborne Division to Kuwait as part of Operation Desert Spring, the continuous rotation of combat forces through Kuwait during the decade after the Gulf War.

During 2001–2002, as a brigadier general, Petraeus served a ten-month tour in Bosnia-Herzegovina as part of Operation Joint Forge. In Bosnia, he was the NATO Stabilization Force Assistant Chief of Staff for Operations as well as the Deputy Commander of the U.S. Joint Interagency Counter-Terrorism Task Force, a command created after the September 11 attacks to add a counterterrorism capability to the U.S. forces attached to the NATO command in Bosnia.

Iraq

In 2003, Petraeus, then a major general, commanded the 101st Airborne Division during V Corps’s drive to Baghdad. In a campaign chronicled in detail by Rick Atkinson of the Washington Post’s book In the Company of Soldiers, Petraeus led his division through fighting in Karbala, Hilla, and Najaf (where he came under fire during an ambush by Iraqi paramilitary forces). The 101st was not, as had been expected [citation needed], called upon to lead urban combat in Baghdad, leading to some limited criticism of the division’s role in the campaign. Instead, as V Corps’s lines of supply came under threat from attacks by irregular forces in the cities of the Euphrates river valley, the division’s three brigades, reinforced by an armored battalion, took the lead in clearing the cities of Najaf, Karbala, and Hilla. Other notable roles filled by the 101st during the campaign included an armed feint toward Hilla to cover the 3rd Infantry Division (Mechanized)’s drive through the Karbala Gap, an armed reconnaissance by the division’s brigade of Apache attack helicopters, and the relief of beleaguered elements of the 75th Ranger Regiment at the Haditha Dam. Following the fall of Baghdad, the division conducted the longest heliborne assault on record in order to reach Nineveh Province, where it would spend much of the next year (the 1st Brigade was responsible for the area south of Mosul, the 2nd Brigade for the city itself, and the 3rd Brigade for the region stretching toward the Syrian border).

An often-repeated story [citation needed] of Petraeus’s time with the 101st is his habit of asking embedded reporters to “Tell me where this ends,” an anecdote many journalists [citation needed] have used to portray Petraeus as an early recognizer of the difficulties that would follow the fall of Baghdad. Indeed, it was during the year after the invasion that Petraeus and the 101st gained fame for their performance in Iraq, not for the combat operations in Karbala and Najaf but for the rebuilding and administration of Mosul and Nineveh Province. Described by one former subordinate as “the most competitive man on earth,”[citation needed] and by another as “phenomenal at getting people to reach their potential” [citation needed]; these two traits of intensity and cultivation of subordinate officers have widely been reported [citation needed] as key to his period of command in Mosul. Petraeus oversaw a program of public works projects and political reinvigoration [citation needed] in Mosul, which was one of the most peaceful cities in Iraq during the first year of the war. (One of Petraeus’ catch phrases during this period was, “Money is ammunition,” supporting the use of commanders’ discretionary funds for public works.)[9] One of his major public works was the restoration and re-opening of the University of Mosul. During 2004, after the 101st replacement by I Corps’s Task Force Olympia, Mosul became a major battleground in the fight against the Sunni insurgency that erupted that spring. Petraeus and his supporters point to the assassination of the governor of Nineveh the following July, five months after the 101st departed, as the catalyst for the 2004 violence, not the unit’s redeployment.

In June 2004, less than six months after the 101st returned to the U.S., Petraeus was promoted to lieutenant general and charged with the task of training the new Iraqi Army and security forces as commander of the Multi-National Security Transition Command Iraq. During his stay at MNSTC-I, Petraeus oversaw the expansion of Iraqi military and police from nearly zero-strength to considerable size. [citation needed]

In September 2004, Petraeus wrote an article for the Washington Post in which he lauded the progress he said was being made by Iraqi security forces. The article was criticized by Paul Krugman in his column of July 19, 2007: “General Petraeus, without saying anything falsifiable, conveyed the totally misleading impression, highly convenient for his political masters, that victory was just around the corner.” [1]

Critics have also pointed to the incomplete state of the Iraqi forces at the time Petraeus handed the command over to Lt. Gen. Martin Dempsey in September 2005. Yet despite criticism of Iraqi troops’ performance, most accounts of Petraeus’s time at MNSTC-I note the sheer scale of the increase in the Iraqi Army’s size during the general’s tenure. [citation needed] Moreover, Petraeus gained a reputation at MNSTC-I as an effective motivator of Iraqi troops, making many visits to frontline Iraqi units to perform inspections and boost morale. [citation needed] During his January 2007 Senate testimony, he described both punitive measures he took against Iraqi units that did not live up to expectations and rewards he gave to those units that performed well. One officer who served under Petraeus at MNSTC-I wrote that after working for the general, he was convinced that “He will re-energize a tired U.S. mission in Iraq and refocus their objectives. He is a superb counterinsurgent, and the American people will start to see results in Iraq instead of stagnation.” [citation needed]

2005–2007

From late 2005 through February 2007[10], Petraeus served as commanding general of Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, and the U.S. Army Combined Arms Center (CAC) located there. As commander of CAC, Petraeus was responsible for oversight of the Command and General Staff College and seventeen other schools, centers, and training programs as well as for development of the Army’s doctrinal manuals, training the Army’s officers, and supervising the Army’s center for the collection and dissemination of lessons learned. During his time at CAC, Petraeus oversaw two major changes geared toward improving the Army performance in Iraq and Afghanistan: he presided over the 1st Infantry Division’s revamped training of advisory teams for deployment to Iraqi military and police units, and, with Marine Lt. Gen.James N. Mattis and Lt. Col. John A. Nagl, he coauthored Field Manual 3-24, the Army’s new official counterinsurgency doctrine.[11] FM 3-24 relies on counterinsurgency tactics Petraeus has long espoused, particularly in Mosul, chiefly the protection of the population from insurgent violence even at greater risk to counterinsurgent personnel.

2007–present
The commanding general of the 9th Iraqi Army Division, right, speaks with a journalist from the Al-Arabiyah news channel, left, as they walk with General David Petraeus, center, through the Al Shurja market in the Rusafa area of East Baghdad, March 11, 2007.
The commanding general of the 9th Iraqi Army Division, right, speaks with a journalist from the Al-Arabiyah news channel, left, as they walk with General David Petraeus, center, through the Al Shurja market in the Rusafa area of East Baghdad, March 11, 2007.

In January 2007, as part of his overhauled Iraq strategy, President Bush announced that Petraeus would succeed Gen. George Casey as commanding general of MNF-I to lead all U.S. troops in Iraq. On January 24, Petraeus testified before the Senate on his ideas for Iraq, particularly the “surge” strategy of increased U.S. presence in Baghdad that he supports as in line with classic counterinsurgency doctrine. The “surge” strategy, as well as the ideas Petraeus included in FM 3-24, have been referred to by some journalists and politicians as the “Petraeus Doctrine,” although the surge itself was proposed well before Petraeus took command. Despite the misgivings of most Democratic and a few Republican senators, over the proposed implementation of the “Petraeus Doctrine” in Iraq, specifically with regards to the troop surge, Petraeus was unanimously confirmed as a four-star general and MNF-I commander on January 27. [12][13]

Before leaving for Iraq Petraeus recruited a number of highly educated military officers, nicknamed “Petraeus guys” or “designated thinkers,” to advise him as commander, including Col. Mike Meese, head of the Social Science Department at West Point and Col. H.R. McMaster, famous for his leadership at the Battle of 73 Easting in the First Gulf War and in the pacification of Tal Afar more recently, as well as for his doctoral dissertation on Vietnam-era civil-military relations entitled Dereliction of Duty. While most of Petraeus’s closest advisers are American military officers, he also hired Lt. Col. David Kilcullen of the Australian Army, who was working for the US State Department.[14] His “on-joining” message[15] to troops said, in part, “It is an honor to soldier again with the members of the Multi-National Force-Iraq.”

Since taking command of MNF-I on February 10, 2007, Petraeus has inspected U.S. and Iraqi units all over Iraq, visiting outposts not only in greater Baghdad but in Tikrit, Baquba, Ramadi, and as far west as al-Hit. In April 2007, Petraeus made his first visit to Washington as MNF-I commander, reporting to President Bush and Congress on the progress of the “surge” and the overall situation in Iraq. During this visit he met privately with members of Congress and reportedly argued against setting a timetable for U.S. troop withdrawal from Iraq.[16]
A full page political advertisement by anti-war liberal interest group Moveon.org in The New York Times accusing the general of cooking the books for the White House. The paper charged MoveOn.org about 36% of the average rate. The ad drew criticism from thirty Republican Senators, several Republican Presidential candidates, Democratic Senator John Kerry, and Independent Senator Joe Lieberman. Democratic presidential candidate John Edwards reiterated both his respect for and disagreement with Petraeus. Other Democratic presidential candidates demurred.
A full page political advertisement by anti-war liberal interest group Moveon.org in The New York Times accusing the general of cooking the books for the White House. The paper charged MoveOn.org about 36% of the average rate. The ad drew criticism from thirty Republican Senators, several Republican Presidential candidates, Democratic Senator John Kerry, and Independent Senator Joe Lieberman. Democratic presidential candidate John Edwards reiterated both his respect for and disagreement with Petraeus. Other Democratic presidential candidates demurred. [17][18][19]

By late May, 2007, Congress did not impose any timetables in war funding legislation for troop withdrawal.[20] The enacted legislation did mandate that Petraeus and U.S. Ambassador to Iraq, Ryan Crocker, deliver a report to Congress by September 15, 2007 detailing their assessment of the military, economic and political situation of Iraq. Despite Petraeus’ statement in June 2007 that there were “astonishing signs of normalcy” in Baghdad[21], which drew criticism from Senate majority leader Harry Reid[22], Petraeus has warned that he expects that the situation in Iraq will require the continued deployment of the elevated troop level of more than 150,000 beyond September 2007; he also has stated that U.S. involvement in Iraq could last another ten years.[23] In July 2007, Petraeus released his interim report on Iraq indicating that coalition forces had made satisfactory progress on 6 of 18 benchmarks set by Congress.

Petraeus’ final report on Iraq was delivered to Congress on September 10, 2007. On August 15, 2007, a Los Angeles Times report alleged that, according to unnamed administration officials, the report “would actually be written by the White House, with inputs from officials throughout the government.”[24] Petraeus declared this as false, saying, “I wrote this testimony myself.” He further elaborated that his testimony to Congress, which was not given under oath,[25] “has not been cleared by, nor shared with, anyone in the Pentagon, the White House, or Congress.” [26] Petraeus will “make a further assessment and [offer] recommendations next March”.[27]

Democratic Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada has argued Petraeus’ “plan is just more of the same” and “is neither a drawdown or a change in mission that we need.” Democratic Representative Robert Wexler of Florida accused Petraeus of “cherry-picking statistics” and “massaging information”.[28] Weekly Standard columnist Fred Barnes called Wexler’s criticisms “histrionic and demagogic”. He argued that “For Democrats, Petraeus Week was a wrenching ordeal.”[29] Chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee Tom Lantos of California called the General and Ambassador Ryan Crocker “Two of our nation’s most capable public servants” and said Democrats feel “esteem for their professionalism.” He also said “We can no longer take their assertions on Iraq at face value”; concluding, “We need to get out of Iraq, for that country’s sake as well as our own.”[30]

On September 20, the Senate passed an amendment by Republican John Cornyn III of Texas designed to “strongly condemn personal attacks on the honor and integrity of General Petraeus”. All forty-nine Republican Senators and twenty-two Democratic Senators voted in support.[31] A mid-September Pew Research Center survey found that, of everyone who has heard of his report, 57% support his recommendations. The survey also stated that 32% of Americans have not heard of his report.[32]
Decorations and badges (Incomplete)
General Petraeus briefs reporters at the Pentagon April 26, 2007, on his view of the current military situation in Iraq.
General Petraeus briefs reporters at the Pentagon April 26, 2007, on his view of the current military situation in Iraq.
U.S. military decorations

* Defense Distinguished Service Medal
* Distinguished Service Medal (with Oak Leaf Clusters)
* Defense Superior Service Medal (with Oak Leaf Clusters)
* Legion of Merit (with 3 Oak Leaf Clusters)
* Bronze Star Medal (with “V” Device)
* Defense Meritorious Service Medal
* Meritorious Service Medal (with 2 Oak Leaf Clusters)
* Joint Service Commendation Medal
* Army Commendation Medal (with 2 Oak Leaf Clusters)
* Joint Service Achievement Medal
* Army Achievement Medal

U.S. unit awards

* Joint Meritorious Unit Award (with 3 Oak Leaf Clusters)
* Army Meritorious Unit Commendation
* Army Superior Unit Award

U.S. non-military decorations

* State Department Superior Honor Award

U.S. service (campaign) medals and service and training ribbons

* National Defense Service Medal (with 2 Service Stars)
* Global War on Terrorism Expeditionary Medal
* Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal
* Iraq Campaign Medal
* Armed Forces Service Medal
* Humanitarian Service Medal
* Army Service Ribbon
* Army Overseas Service Ribbon (with 2 Oak Leaf Clusters)

U.S. badges, patches and tabs

* Combat Action Badge
* Expert Infantryman Badge
* Master Parachutist Badge
* Air Assault Badge
* Joint Chiefs of Staff Identification Badge
* Army Staff Identification Badge
* Ranger Tab
* Multi-National Force—Iraq Patch
* 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault) Patch

Foreign military decorations

* Gold Award of the Iraqi Order of the Date Palm

Foreign badges, patches and tabs

* British Parachutist Badge
* French Parachutist Badge
* German Parachutist Badge

Non-U.S. service medals and ribbons

* United Nations Mission in Haiti (UNMIH) Medal[33]
* NATO Meritorious Service Medal

@@@@@@@@@@@Snip..............

500 posted on 09/23/2007 7:56:11 PM PDT by MNJohnnie (http://www.vetsforfreedom.org/)
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