So Many Republican Hypocrites, So Little Time

September 14, 2007 | SEND TO A FRIEND | GET EARLY NOTICE OF THE HOTW

David Petraeus

Welcome back to the BuzzFlash GOP Hypocrite of the Week.

We had it figured out that Petraeus was playing the Bushevik lackey to position himself for a Republican Senate run. But now it turns out that he told a high-level Iraqi that his sights were set a little higher: Petraeus, apparently, has his eyes on the White House.

According to the Independent of London:

The US commander in Iraq, General David Petraeus, expressed long-term interest in running for the US presidency when he was stationed in Baghdad, according to a senior Iraqi official who knew him at that time.

Sabah Khadim, then a senior adviser at Iraq's Interior Ministry, says General Petraeus discussed with him his ambition when the general was head of training and recruitment of the Iraqi army in 2004-05.

"I asked him if he was planning to run in 2008 and he said, 'No, that would be too soon'," Mr. Khadim, who now lives in London, said.

That appears believable considering how much credibility Petraeus is putting on the line in being one of the few remaining generals who will carry the foul and polluted water bucket of frat boy Bush and Rasputin Cheney.

As the Independent article notes: "For a soldier whose military abilities and experience are so lauded by the White House, General Petraeus has had a surprisingly controversial career in Iraq. His critics hold him at least partly responsible for three debacles: the capture of Mosul by the insurgents in 2004; the failure to train an effective Iraqi army and the theft of the entire Iraqi arms procurement budget in 2004-05."

Imagine that! Bush and Cheney set up a military guy to take the heat for recommending, basically, a war without end (even the vague hope of drawing down a small number of post-"surge" troops in the distant future is filled with so many qualifications, it's meaningless from the get-go). The White House is doing this because polls show the public is so disgusted with the politicians dealing with Iraq, it will listen to someone from the military. But the Busheviks have fired or sidelined any general who disagrees with their failed Iraq policy, and so they were left with an ambitious Petraeus as their willing Oliver North of the moment. (Let it be noted that Ollie ran for a senate seat in Virginia and lost).

In 2004, right before the presidential election, Petraeus took the highly unusual step, for someone in the Pentagon brass, of basically endorsing Bush by writing an op-ed in the Washington Post that boasted how swimmingly things were going in Iraq. That was three years ago, and he's still saying the same thing. Ambition will fuel a lot of hypocrisy.

Lost in this past week's news coverage was a key admission during the carefully choreographed Petraeus "testimony." When asked by Senator John Warner, "Do you feel that [Iraq war] is making America safer", Petraeus first tried to avoid answering by responding, "I believe this is indeed the best course of action to achieve our objectives in Iraq." Warner, however, repeated his question. Petraeus regrouped and said, "I don't know, actually. I have not sat down and sorted in my own mind."

That's all we really needed to know. The "great, brave" General doesn't even know if the whole damn fiasco has made us any safer -- or he may realize that it hasn't so he just gave a second non-committal response! Good, God!

By the way, Petraeus was also in on the phony claim that biological warfare trailers were discovered in Iraq, shortly after the invasion. This was a totally phony news plant to bolster the Cheney/Bush/Rumsfeld fraudulent WMD lies.

The Republicans love playing "don't be critical of a military man with so many medals" card. That's probably because there are virtually no GOP members of the Administration or in Congress who have actually served in combat. But it's also a hypocritical ruse that hides the reality that Petraeus is a highly politicized and opportunistic general who is using his position to "seek higher ground." What about all the other generals that Bush and the crew threw off the bus because they wouldn't play ball with the White House "cover story" on Iraq? Aren't they military heroes that the White House betrayed and dishonored because they wouldn't drink the Bushevik Kool-Aid?

David Petraeus, you've failed America and -- like Bush and Cheney -- you've failed our troops. For the sake of personal ambition, more of them will die.

You truly deserve being recognized as the BuzzFlash GOP Hypocrite of the Week. The true heroes at the Pentagon are the ones who chose to take a stand for the troops and a strong military, and had their careers curtailed as a result.

Until next week, remember our motto: So many Republican hypocrites, so little time.

Catch up with you soon.