Direct From General Petraeus's mouth!

Today I came across a Newsweek Article, where the writer interviewed General Petraeus - the man who McCain continually praises, and whose advice he would always heed.

Well there is no doubt, that with Rumsfeld out of the picture, and not micro-managing his generals, leaders such as Petraeus are able to focus on putting in the right strategy and doing their job without being snow-flaked to death by Rumsfeld.

http://www.newsweek.com/id/154587

The MSM (Mainstream Media) has questioned whether the surge has worked to no end. The funny thing is, until this article, I haven't seen any response to what Petraeus thinks.

Here's some VERY interesting points that Petraeus makes:

A. Has the SURGE Worked? Can we say Mission Accomplished now?

He [Petraeus] will not consider it a complete victory, the defeat against Al Qaeda and the insurgency.

Nordland:" Why then don't we just say it?: Al Qaeda in Iraq has been defeated.”
Petraeus: "You won't find a single military leader in this theater who will say that."
Nordland: "You could be the first, general."
Petraeus: "Yeah, I could, but I won't be."
Nordland: "At least can't we say 'strategically defeated'?"
Petraeus: "We'll leave that to the academics. "

What you might ask??? I don't understand - McCain told me that the surge worked!

B. Is the surge the success factor for why we saw a reduction in the violence?

Petraeus is careful not to credit all the progress to the surge of U.S.
troops in 2007. The sea change came last year from a series of movements now known as the Awakening, when Sunnis, organizing around traditional tribal leaders, decided to turn on Al Qaeda as "an organization that embraces an extremist ideology, employs indiscriminate violence, and practices oppressive social customs," in the general's words. One of those customs was a ban on smoking. "That was the turning point when they cut the fingers off the first person who was smoking," he jokes. "Can you imagine an Anbar sheik being told he can't smoke?"

Oh so Obama was right - there were other factors for why the surge helped! The Sunni Awakening happened FIRST, then was supported by the surge. So McCain, who is supposed to be a foreign policy expert, got it wrong!


C. So would the Sunni Awakening have continued WITHOUT the surge???

Possibly, he concedes, but the surge came at that time and helped empower Sunni leaders, paying their fighters and backing them up on the streets. This is where Seneca the Younger comes in: "Luck is what happens when preparation meets opportunity."

There was also, Petraeus says, "a civilian surge—[U.S. Ambassador Ryan]
Crocker has seven ambassadors on his staff" and in the economic section of the embassy alone, staffing went from 130 to 200 this year with State Department augmentees; for the first time, all of the American Embassy's vacancies are filled, and with volunteers rather than draftees. And Iraqis have had an even bigger surge in their own security forces.

Oh so the "military" surge HELPED, but it WOULD NOT have been successful without the Sunni Awakening and the CIVILIAN surge, and most importantly, paying the Iraqis to fight against Al Qaeda and NOT our troops!

Has McCain read this article I wonder? I keep going back to the point, if McCain doesn't understand the situation on the ground, how can we expect to trust him to put in place the RIGHT strategy and policies???

Personally, I don't feel safer with some academically challenged candidate, who graduated 894 out of 899 in his class, and probably spent more time drinking and partying, and was only able to graduate from the Naval Academy because his father and Grandfather were Admirals in the US Navy!

What is it with the American Voter who is uncomfortable with an intelligent Presidents? Aren't presidents supposed to be smart??? Why do we scorn and diminish a man like Obama, as an "arugula eating elitist"? Here is someone who worked hard to get to where he is, graduating with honors from Harvard, all with STUDENT LOANS - isn't this the American story? Apparently not.

Apparently McCain's wealth is the ultimate American Dream - according to the idiots at Fox News ("what's wrong with being rich?"). McCain got to where he is and got his wealth honestly. He got into the Naval Academy, because he was a "legacy", and was fortunate to have married a Wealthy Heiress. He got his money the easy way, he married into it!

As someone who loves eating arugula, I prefer my Presidents to show a high level of intelligence, and ability to reason with cool thoughtfulness. But in a ridiculous commentary, I heard one pundit say, that "the American Voter wants to elect a President they can have a beer with." Are you kidding me???? I hope that the American Voter is smarter than that - but who knows??

I don't want a tempermental, cranky man who is known for his explosive temper, with his finger on the trigger. But don't take my word for it, see what his OWN Republican colleagues have to say about McCain! Tom Delay was pretty harsh when he said that "There are no redeeming qualities about McCain - he's a hypocrite" I guess it takes one to know one.



McCain is well know to send nicely worded apologies to those he loses his temper with, but the thing to keep in mind, is that after you push the button, there is no way to take it back!