Petraeus- Trouble Ahead.
Andrew Bacevich, talking about General Petraeus in the New Republic:
"Within the past week, complaints dribbling out of Petraeus’s headquarters in Kabul—duly reported by an accommodating press—indicate growing military unhappiness with the July 2011 pullout date. Now, Petraeus himself has begun to weigh in directly. This past weekend, he launched his own media campaign, offering his “narrative” of ongoing events. Unlike the ham-handed McChrystal, who chose a foreign capital as his soapbox, Petraeus sat for a carefully orchestrated series of interviews with The New York Times, The Washington Post, and NBC’s “Meet the Press,” each of which gratefully passed along the general’s view of things."
This guy has been a bootlicker of the right since the day he first appeared on the national scene. Sorry, Barack, you screwed up when you picked him. He was bound to end up stabbing you in the back, and like some military Newt Gingrich, he doesn't even have the decency to wait until the ink is dry on the marriage license before doing whatever he can to get his piggish way.
You think the McChrystal affair caused you a hard time? Well, now you are stuck with one of the right wing's favorite phony heroes, and they are going to scream bloody murder unless you give up the notion of civilian control of the military right quick. What's worse is that Petraeus isn't even a great general like MacArthur or Patton- he's just another warmongering hack who, despite all his years in the military, doesn't get it at all. Good Luck with him; you're going to need it.
"Within the past week, complaints dribbling out of Petraeus’s headquarters in Kabul—duly reported by an accommodating press—indicate growing military unhappiness with the July 2011 pullout date. Now, Petraeus himself has begun to weigh in directly. This past weekend, he launched his own media campaign, offering his “narrative” of ongoing events. Unlike the ham-handed McChrystal, who chose a foreign capital as his soapbox, Petraeus sat for a carefully orchestrated series of interviews with The New York Times, The Washington Post, and NBC’s “Meet the Press,” each of which gratefully passed along the general’s view of things."
This guy has been a bootlicker of the right since the day he first appeared on the national scene. Sorry, Barack, you screwed up when you picked him. He was bound to end up stabbing you in the back, and like some military Newt Gingrich, he doesn't even have the decency to wait until the ink is dry on the marriage license before doing whatever he can to get his piggish way.
You think the McChrystal affair caused you a hard time? Well, now you are stuck with one of the right wing's favorite phony heroes, and they are going to scream bloody murder unless you give up the notion of civilian control of the military right quick. What's worse is that Petraeus isn't even a great general like MacArthur or Patton- he's just another warmongering hack who, despite all his years in the military, doesn't get it at all. Good Luck with him; you're going to need it.
Comments
A solution that is purely military in character is not going to be found for Afghanistan.