This ad, published in Monday’s New York Times, says it all….
Many left-leaning websites are currently parroting that eighteen months after entering Iraq, General David Petraeus “rhapsodized about tangible progress”, and how the Iraqi forces were “developing steadily,” “an assessment that has long since proved to be untrue.”
However, according to the BBC….
“In the letter posted on his Baghdad command’s website, Gen Petraeus said this summer was supposed to be a time of “tangible political progress” but “it has not worked out as we hoped”.
“He thanked the troops for their contributions to the counter-insurgency fight.
“I will go before Congress conscious of the strain on our forces, the sacrifices that you and your families are making, the gains we have made in Iraq,” he wrote.
But when the ends justify the means, the truth may be inconvenient. What’s a little twisting of words?
Does MoveOn even know who’s been doing the most killing of Iraqi civilians and American soldiers with bombs and sniper attacks in Iraq during the last three years? Hint: It’s not American soldiers.
MoveOn.org and the left must be commended for their bravery to attack those who are actually on the front lines, doing what they would NEVER have the guts to do….
General Petraeus’ prepared testimony
Generals? On the front lines? HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!! Like any officer in the US Army ever enters combat!
How do you think they got to be generals, bonehead?
Rumor has it that MoveOn got the ad for 61% off the normal full page rate.
Oh He must have been Front line in his younger days. He’s got Airborne written all over uniform. Debton, you got to be careful what you say about Army Airborne
“How do you think they got to be generals, bonehead?”
uuh.. military academy? I’m sure he weren’t ever no corporal.
General David H. Petraeus assumed command of the Multi-National Force-Iraq on February 10th, 2007, following his assignment as the Commanding General, U.S. Army Combined Arms Center and Fort Leavenworth. Prior to assuming command at Ft. Leavenworth, he was the first commander of the Multi-National Security Transition Command-Iraq, which he led from June 2004 to September 2005, and the NATO Training Mission- Iraq, which he commanded from October 2004 to September 2005. That deployment to Iraq followed his command of the 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault), during which he led the “Screaming Eagles” in combat throughout the first year of Operation Iraqi Freedom. His command of the 101st followed a year deployed on Operation Joint Forge in Bosnia, where he was the Assistant Chief of Staff for Operations of the NATO Stabilization Force and the Deputy Commander of the US Joint Interagency Counter-Terrorism Task Force-Bosnia. Prior to his tour in Bosnia, he spent two years at Fort Bragg, North Carolina, serving first as the Assistant Division Commander for Operations of the 82nd Airborne Division and then as the Chief of Staff of XVIII Airborne Corps.
General Petraeus was commissioned in the Infantry upon graduation from the United States Military Academy in 1974. He has held leadership positions in airborne, mechanized, and air assault infantry units in Europe and the United States, including command of a battalion in the 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault) and a brigade in the 82nd Airborne Division. In addition, he has held a number of staff assignments: Aide to the Chief of Staff of the Army; battalion, brigade, and division operations officer; Military Assistant to the Supreme Allied Commander – Europe; Chief of Operations of the United Nations Force in Haiti; and Executive Assistant to the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.
General Petraeus was the General George C. Marshall Award winner as the top graduate of the U.S. Army Command and General Staff College Class of 1983. He subsequently earned MPA and Ph.D. degrees in international relations from Princeton University’s Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs, and later served as an Assistant Professor of International Relations at the US Military Academy. He also completed a fellowship at Georgetown University.
Awards and decorations earned by General Petraeus include the Defense Distinguished Service Medal, two awards of the Distinguished Service Medal, two awards of the Defense Superior Service Medal, four awards of the Legion of Merit, the Bronze Star Medal for valor, the State Department Superior Honor Award, the NATO Meritorious Service Medal, and the Gold Award of the Iraqi Order of the Date Palm. He is a Master Parachutist and is Air Assault and Ranger qualified. He has also earned the Combat Action Badge and French, British, and German Jump Wings. In 2005 he was recognized by the U.S. News and World Report as one of America’s 25 Best Leaders.
So I was exactly correct. He went through military academy, and always held command positions. He was not in the “front lines”. Our military is hopelessly divided by class.
Bonehead.
debton,
Why don’t YOU share with us your wisdom and expertise in how easy it is to lead a command in battle?
I didn’t say it was easy, what I’m saying is your statement that Petraeus is on the “front lines” is completely absurd. Officers aren’t the ones risking their lives, they just tell other people to risk theirs.
How does one earn a Bronze Star with Valor without being in combat, Debton?
You don’t graduate from the academy as a General, and Lieutenants most certainly DO get deployed into the field.
But the whole point is asinine. Are you trying to say that a Private has a better handle on the whole military/Political/Economic gestalt of the Iraq situation and the Gulf Region?
Fine, he might have seen SOME combat, years ago when he first got out of the Academy. But a quick glance at the statistics here:
http://icasualties.org/oif/stats.aspx
tells me that the vast majority of casualties in Iraq are suffered by enlisted men. And Generals are certainly not deployed on the “front lines”.
Am I saying that a private has a better handle on the political, economic or military situation in Iraq? Of course not. But the article I read here implies that the General is somehow above criticism because he is on the “front lines”. The General is little more than a policy maker, and to say that a policy maker is above criticism is what’s truly asinine here.
Debton, please tell me where the “front line” is in a counterinsurgency. The whole point of irregular warfare is that there is no front line.
By the way, check the casualties, many officers have died in Iraq and Afghanistan… including a friend of mine.
And by the way, Gen. Petraeus commanded the 101st Airborne… in combat, followed that up as the Commander of MNSTCI training the Iraqi Security Forces In Iraq, and is now in charge of MNFI. If you think he did all of that by sitting behind a desk somewhere, I’d ask you to embed with him for a week or two and see just how safe and sound you feel.
“Debton, please tell me where the “front line” is in a counterinsurgency. The whole point of irregular warfare is that there is no front line.”
Not in the green zone.
“By the way, check the casualties, many officers have died in Iraq and Afghanistan… including a friend of mine.”
I did, it was roughly 200 out of over 3000. Like I said, the vast majority is enlisted men, it is much safer to be an officer.
“And by the way, Gen. Petraeus commanded the 101st Airborne… in combat, followed that up as the Commander of MNSTCI training the Iraqi Security Forces In Iraq, and is now in charge of MNFI. If you think he did all of that by sitting behind a desk somewhere, I’d ask you to embed with him for a week or two and see just how safe and sound you feel.”
I’d rather embed with him than a bunch of privates and corporals any day. Wouldn’t you?
What happened to Bob Parks anyway? No snappy “bonehead” remarks left? No cliches? No ridiculous hyperbole?
Sorry, Debton.
Didn’t know this was to be a debate. I thought I made my point earlier.
And I only need to call you “bonehead” once.
You made your point by calling me a name, giving me information to back up my own point, and then the old “well you couldn’t do better so shut up!” routine. Sure, I’m the bonehead here.