The Ambitious Delusions of George Bush and David Petraeus
We now learn that General David Petraeus fancies himself a Dwight Eisenhower for the 21st century. According to a report in London’s Independent newspaper by the reliable Middle East observer Patrick Cockburn, the U.S. military viceroy in Iraq would like very much to return from his mission and — like the Supreme Commander of Allied forces in Europe during World War II and of North Atlantic Treaty Organization in its aftermath — mount a bid for the White House. Petraeus has apparently been so open in expressing his “long-term interest in running for the US presidency” that Sabah Khadim, a former senior adviser at Iraq’s Interior Ministry who worked closely with the general in Baghdad, recalls, “I asked him if he was planning to run in 2008 and he said, ‘No, that would be too soon’.”…. Such are the political calculations of the man whose embrace of President Bush’s war has become so complete that he and his aides have radically altered the manner in which statistics are gathered on violence in Iraq in order to foster the fantasy that the fight has taken a turn for the better.
I suppose that, if we’re to learn anything from our experience in Iraq, it’s that we should never trust a leader (or leaders) willing to sacrifice American blood and treasure for their own self-aggrandizement and political advancement. In the case of Our Glorious and Benevolent Leader © , it’s a naked case of legacy-burnishing and controlling the world oil market. In the case of Gen. David Petraeus, it may well be to become the reincarnation of Dwight Eisenhower, perhaps this nation’s ultimate soldier-statesman. In both cases, there seems to be a willing suspension of disbelief, the desire and the need to believe that things are as they wish they could be, instead of dealing with the incovenient truth of reality as it actually is.
Of course, my military experience is limited to a couple of years as an Army Reserve 2nd Lieutenant in a Military Police unit. I’ve not commanded theater operations, nor have I the long and deistinguished military career that Gen. Petraeus has enjoyed. Neither do I have access to the intelligence briefings and information that The Worst President EVER © does. Anecdotally, however, it doesn’t take a Ph.D. to see that the war and Iraq is a mess, a complete and total clusterf—k of the first order. We broke Iraq, and yet it’s become painfully clear that those charged with putting Iraq back together have absolutely no clue.
Perhaps the simple answer is that the US, despite all of the massive amount of resources that American ingenuity can throw at the problem, simply cannot fix Iraq. We’re hip-deep in a civil war that not only can we not fix, we don’t even seem to truly understand exactly what is happening and just who it is we’re fighting. The Iraqi government is a mess, the police force is riven by sectarian differences, and the army? Well, OK, disbanding the Iraq Army was Paul Bremer’s folly, but the damage has been done.
Perhaps Chimpy McFlightsuit © and Gen. Petraeus have boundless faith in the ability of American ingenuity and military power to find a way out of this mess. If so, it would appear that they’re about the only ones who do.
“General Petraeus has a reputation in the US Army for being a man of great ambition. If he succeeds in reversing America’s apparent failure in Iraq, he would be a natural candidate for the White House in the presidential election in 2012,” explains Cockburn. “His able defense of the ‘surge’ in US troop numbers in Iraq as a success before Congress this week has made him the best-known soldier in America. An articulate, intelligent and energetic man, he has always shown skill in managing the media.”
The problem, of course, is that Petraeus’s “open interest in the presidency” might, Cockburn suggests, “lead critics to suggest that his own political ambitions have influenced him in putting an optimistic gloss on the US military position in Iraq “
Or perhaps it’s the knowledge that his continued existence in his current role may well rest on his ability to sell the Administration’s optimism and “just around the corner” success in Iraq. Gen. Petraeus may be the military mastermind in Iraq, but in a very real sense, he’s merely a puppet whose public pronouncement are by and large manipulated by Administration marionettes.
It is Petraeus’s willingness to apply the optimistic gloss that marks him as a worthy successor to George Bush, who in Thursday night speech to the nation pronounced himself well and truly pleased with his general’s recitation of the administration’s talking points. Based on general’s testimony, Bush is claiming “success in meeting (our) objectives.”
The president’s “return on success” is an empty promise that a small number of troops already scheduled for withdrawal from Iraq may, in fact, be withdrawn. At the same time, however, Bush acknowledges that this “success will require U.S. political, economic, and security engagement that extends beyond my Presidency.”
Translation: For all the window-dressing talk about drawing down troop levels, Bush continues to peddle the ” stay-the-course” message that has been his theme since the occupation of oil-rich Iraq went awry more than four years ago. And, once more, the president is asking Congress to provide him with more money for more war.
In the end, it’s merely just so much propaganda. Gen. Petraeus does Capitol Hill, wowing Conservative Cheickenhawks and angering Democrats and Moderate Republicans who’ve long-since recognized that the Emperor has no clothes.
Gen. Petraeus may be a brilliant tactician and a military genius, but it’s his bad luck to have hitched his star to The Decider © . Frankly, from what I’ve seen over the past few days, Petraeus couldn’t carry Eisenhower’s jock. At least Eisenhower had a sense of independence and the intellectual and moral honesty to recognize when things were FUBAR. That neither Petraeus or Commander Codpiece © seem to recognize this reality only condemns more of our sons and daughters to returning home from Iraq in flag-draped boxes.
Somebody ought to be impeached….
