America will be watching...
Really, History will be watching today as General Petraeus gives his report on Iraq to Congress.
Some lefties are quipping, "General Petraeus or General Betray-us?" .. but I don't feel that strongly. I think Petraeus is basically an honorable man, but he is not completely free of manipulation. What people don't understand is that a General will always follow the orders of his Commander-in-Chief.
Colin Powell wasn't a very good Secretary of State largely because his first instinct was to take orders .. rather than advising the president on proper and good policy.
Once again, Bush is selling his war .. not to the American people this time, but to Congress. The ones who have the power to jerk the money, end this war and start bringing the troops home.
On the morning of General Petraeus's report, we must remember what he said a few weeks before the 2004 elections. He wrote an op-ed piece about 'tangible progress' and how the Iraqi forces were 'developing steadily.'
He may have fooled some voters, but all that he claimed has long since proved to be untrue.
On the morning news I saw a reporter in Iraq who said that when she asks Iraqis what they are fighting for, they say "Sunnis!" or "Shiites!" They never say "Iraq." It will take another generation for them to think of Iraq first. Are we willing for our kids to keep dying for this?
We must keep in mind the recent reports from the GAO, independent agencies and whatnot which tell a different story than Bush's "kickin' ass" story.
Bush is counting on the General to restore credibility to his disastrous Iraq policy .. he sometimes refers to the US troop "surge" as Petraeus’s strategy .. like Bush had nothing to do with it.
It brings to mind the way Bush sent another military man with a strong sense of duty - Colin Powell - as his mouthpiece to spin WMD's to the UN in 2003 .. holding up little vials of anthrax and going on about mobile labs.
Yep, Petraeus is caught between a rock and a hard place, and maybe someday he'll rue his actions the same way Powell says he does.
So let's keep this in mind today as Gen. Petraeus tells Congress that the surge has reduced violence in Iraq .. as long as you don’t count Sunnis killed by Sunnis, Shiites killed by Shiites, the car bombings or certain head wounds. See, they classify violence based on how the bullet pierced a victim's head -- back of the head, sectarian and counted, front of the head, it's criminal and not counted.
I only hope that the dang Democrats will not look at Gen. Petraeus’s uniform and medals and fall into their usual cringe .. not asking hard questions out of fear that someone might accuse them of attacking the military.
I can just see it -- after the testimony, they’ll desperately try to get Republicans to agree to a resolution that politely asks the President to maybe .. possibly .. withdraw some troops .. if he feels like it.
