Militant Babies

Listening to NPR just now...

I think it's really a testament to General Petraeus's absolute genius that he says we won't sustain Teh Surge past the point when he himself says it would be impossible to sustain it.

This is what is known as a shell game, but not a very convincing one. Why, you'd have to be David Broder to fall for it.

ADDED: Oh, I love this bit from the NPR story:

"I wrote this testimony myself. It has not been cleared by, nor shared with, anyone in the Pentagon, the White House or the Congress," he said

Uh-huh.

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

Another new arrival in the West Wing set up a rapid-response PR unit hard-wired into Petraeus's shop. Ed Gillespie, the new presidential counselor, organized daily conference calls at 7:45 a.m. and again late in the afternoon between the White House, the Pentagon, the State Department, and the U.S. Embassy and military in Baghdad to map out ways of selling the surge.

That's a mighty fine point to put on the definition of "testimony."

Comments

[va]

What I don't get about Petraeus is that no one has seemed to be able to make the argument that he's precisely an Administration stooge along the lines of the giant flock of other incompetent stooges in high places. The most we seem to be able to muster is that his testimony is Admin. approved and that he's willing to sell the war no matter what.

What's Petraeus's gag? Is it possible that he's both competent and willing to shill for Bush? If so, he must be the last military person on Earth to fit that description. But by the same token, I haven't seen anything to suggest Petraeus is anything but independent (not a Bush 41 advisor, doesn't have a long history of working for/with Republicans, isn't close personal friends with the Kagans, Rumsfelds, et al., doesn't have all his assets tied up in Halliburton stock...). Which leads me to wonder, what the hell does he think he's doing?

[SteveB]

What's Petraeus' gag? Well, the tendency of all military brass to spin a pleasing tale about their prospects of "success" (at least in public) goes back at least as far as the Trojan war.

Here's a slightly more contemporary example.

Here's some evidence that Petraeus has been doing this schtick for the past four years.

And here's some evidence the public isn't buying it anymore (short summary: by a 53-39 majority, those polled said that Petreaus "will try to make things look better than they really are", rather than "honestly reflect the situation in Iraq".

[SteveB]

Sorry about the bad link. Here's a link to Jonathan Schwarz' blog, scroll down to: John Kerry In 1971 On Wartime "Intelligence"

[va]

I guess I shouldn't discount the tendency military leaders have of spinning military success. But I'm not convinced that's Petraeus's sole motivation, esp. because so many other "brass" types have expressed the opposite--that our Iraq strategy has failed etc. etc. I guess ultimately what I'm wondering is why a competent person (which everyone including IIRC Juan Cole agrees Petraeus is) would be so willing to be used as a stooge by this particular president this late in the game.

Again, all I seem to see is the argument that Petraeus is a Bush stooge because he's stooging for Bush. I feel like if the General was so stupid as to stick with Bush no matter what, he wouldn't be in the position he's in now. I feel like Bush had to have personally sold Petraeus that there's something significant in it for him should he take on the obviously stupid and deeply unpopular Surge initiative. I just wonder how it was.

[mattsmom]

va, he's looking for his 5th star and his congressional medal of honor. I'm sure the extra star and the medal will greatly enhance his opportunities with the industrial military complex after he retires.

[SteveB]

so many other "brass" types have expressed the opposite--that our Iraq strategy has failed etc. etc.

Have any active-duty military said this, or just retirees?

I don't think you would ever see a high-level person on active duty express public scepticism about the war effort, and not just because it would be disastrous for their career. I think there's a psychology that takes hold of these people, when they're in the middle of a war, that they feel they have to act a cheerleaders for the "team" even if they have private doubts that the team can win.

Once they're out of it a bit and can get some distance, sanity can reassert itself and we see those doubts expressed.

[va]

Have any active-duty military said this, or just retirees?

I can only think of the recent op-ed by the group of 7(?) active duty guys.

Yeah, Mattsmom, I guess "establishment suck-up" is more satisfactory to me than Bush admin suck-up. And much more sane.

[Nora]

What is it about Republicans and their love of uniforms? I was reading about the testimony and the sucking up the Republicans were doing to Petraeus, and all I could think of was their idolatry for Oliver North, who also showed up before Congress in his uniform with his medals.

Are all of them closet cases? Is it all dress up to them?