Staying the course, again.
So Gen. David Petraeus' long-awaited report on the Iraq war has been delivered and what's the conclusion.
Sure, he's recommended withdrawing 30,000 troops by next summer, meaning that by next summer, we'll be at the same point we were in January.
There's a phrase for this: Two steps forward, two steps back.
This thing's never going to end.
Turns out that Petraeus is apparently Greek for Westmoreland -- Westmoreland being the Gen. William Westmoreland, the fall guy for our failure in Vietnam.
Westmoreland, if you'll recall, offered dozens of rosy predictions about how Vietnam was playing out, right up to the bitter end.
And now, it's Petraeus' turn.
Steve Feldmann · September 27, 2007 7:55 AM
Dear Mike:
I understand why people might want to level their frustration at General Patraeus - after all he's the guy out front right now. But I read two articles about him over time that suggest that there's more to him than the "surge." The first discussed his handling of his assignment shortly after we took Iraq, and how successfully his division had built up rapport with the villages and towns they were responsible for by being respectful, polite and communicative. It was apparently all offset after Gen. Patraeus was rotated out at the end of his tour and replaced by a more confrontational commander.
The other was more recently posted by NPR, which sent a reporter to his home town near West Point NY. Understandably, the home town folk are big Patraeus fans (home town boy) but their comments about his hard work, diverting credit for success and ability to inspire make him look like the kind of commander I'd be willing to follow.
I'm worried that we're getting to potentially effective steps awfully late in the game, and in war, like stand up comedy, timing is everything.
See you at Market.
Edward Duffey · October 9, 2007 4:27 AM
Mike:
My son returned from Iraq a few weeks ago. His opinion...the surge is working. He got shelled every day a year ago. When he left, he hadn't been shot at in months. He wonders why there is no coverage of good things happening in Iraq.
He's not affiliated with Bush, Westmoreland or Patreaus, but he has first-hand experience. He doesn't paint a rosey picture of the war, but he's not in lock-step with the left either.