What's Really Important The Petraeus Report, And Other Consequences
I began writing this blog as a comment to a column written by a man whose opinions and word craft I admire greatly. His name is Jaime O’Neill. To those of you who only read this online and from afar via the Internet, and aren’t really familiar with the Paradise Post itself, he is a widely published freelance writer. I’m fortunate enough to know him personally, and freely admit he has directly, and by example, encouraged me to put my opinions on paper. As often happens with me, a small comment grew into another large blog. I can’t even make soup at home for less than ten people, even though there are only two of us.
The column I was commenting on, and which ultimately inspired a continuation in other, and hopefully related areas, can be found at Is Petraeus his own man? Perhaps not .
Jaime, I also question some of the outrage over MoveOn’s ad. Though I might agree with Nancy Pelosi and John Kerry that the choice of words was perhaps over the top, I also recall when I actually started thinking that. It was after seeing Petraeus sitting at that Congressional table, looking very regal in his full dress uniform, covered with ribbons, medals, insignias and those very large and shiny stars on each shoulder. He cut quite an impressive figure, a person appearing to embody intelligence, courage and integrity; a personality not to be taken lightly or with any disrespect.
And, of course, that is exactly the image he was supposed to portray; it’s easy to confuse the image and the man, with the purpose of the hearing. I myself have no doubt General Petraeus is an honorable and very capable man, who serves this nation to the best of his ability, which appears quite extensive.
I don’t perceive the real question as a matter of Petraeus’ integrity and loyalty to the interests of the United States, but rather whether his perception of events might not, by default, begin to blend in some ways with the person he has sworn to obey: “and that I will obey the orders of the President of the United States.” As you aptly pointed out “Those two masters don't always intersect or even co-exist.”
When I read the Post editorial stating, Petraeus was “his own man,” the question immediately came to my mind, “how do they know that for certain?” And this was not a criticism of the general, so much as a perception of the reality that he was hired by this President to do a specific job, and as Time Magazine’s political columnist Joe Klein stated, “I think that he is absolutely trained to see the glass as being half full. And what you got a lot of was half full without seeing the other side of it. And a lot of what he said, especially when he talked about Basra, was disingenuous. But he really believes in the mission." I also thought some of the report was a little sugar coated. For instance, constantly referring to “ethno-sectarian violence” seemed a very polite and often deceptive substitution for Civil War.
It was also telling (you made a small reference to this) when Chris Matthews queried Klein about why he thought Petraeus said he didn’t know if the surge made America any safer, when answering Senator John Warner. Klein’s response was, “Well, you know what? It was the truth. It's what he really believed. Then a really funny thing happened. I was in the room. They went into recess and clearly someone from the White House called him up and said, are you kidding me! And when he came back, he was asked another question by a senator, and he went back to that statement. And he corrected himself, and said he hadn't thought it through or whatever.”
It’s this latter statement that causes me concern. It’s just a blatant example of how White House thinking and perception can influence Petraeus specifically, and the military and Pentagon in general. It’s a bit more of that sugar coating -- not quite a lie, or a betrayal, but absolutely meant to be misleading, with the purpose of muddying the waters.
Though I don’t entirely disagree with the Post’s assessment that many on the left “have come to loath President George Bush so much that many of them are simply incapable of seeing anything positive in anyone associated with him,” I would not equate this with how the Republicans felt about President Bill Clinton after the Monica Lewinsky debacle. In my humble opinion, the full fury of the Republican “bash and spin machine” came into focus the minute Clinton was elected to office. He had, after all, ruined the schedule for the neoconservative agenda and the combined Neoconservative/Republican drive toward complete domination of our government, merely by being elected and nothing more. George Bush, on the other hand, has well earned the disdain and distrust with which so many hold him.
The effects of the Bush Administration on our economy, our Armed Forces, and how the rest of the world now perceives us, may last far into this century if we are unlucky, and perhaps only a decade or two if we luck out.
The ramifications of the trumped up and misnamed “War on Terrorism” may have even greater and more terrible consequences. Terrorism is a tactic, not a philosophy, and declaring war on it is akin to trying to declare war on hate. I have little doubt there have for some time been Islamic ideologues around the world who have hated the West, and the United States in particular. I don’t doubt they represent a real threat to our safety. Yet, I also have no doubt that George Bush’s willful, arrogant and ill-conceived pre-emptive invasion of Iraq, and its subsequent lingering consequences have created many more Islamic ideologues that now hate us, as well as more terrorists and suicide bombers. I don’t believe this would have occurred if the main focus had been on getting those responsible for 9/11, instead of in essence declaring a war on so many who otherwise might have remained neutral.
Perception is indeed reality. I believe General Petraeus to be an honorable man, but this doesn’t make even him immune to being duped by his sense of duty, and allegiance to those he has sworn to obey. (And I’m not saying he has been, but I refuse to believe it’s not possible.) I recall exactly this happening to Colin Powell, another honorable man.
The art of word crafting, and sugar coating the message, has become a poor substitute for speaking from the heart, without any thought to political perception or allegiance. When the events they might influence, for good or bad, peace or war, are so huge in magnitude that they might ultimately affect the future of an entire world for some time to come, they are a very poor substitute for the plain and simple truth.
If the people of this nation do not wake up, and soon, to the realization of how we have allowed ourselves to become separated and divided by the political and corporate cronies whose main “raison d’etre” is the accumulation of wealth and power, we are in danger of losing everything we hold dear. Iraq is not the only country today divided by civil war.
In fact, there are two wars now waging within our own nation. One is a war between the haves (or have increasingly more), and the have-nots (or have increasingly less). And this gap is rapidly widening every year, if not every month. The second is a war splitting the nation ideologically, under the guise of political and closely aligned religious issues. Supposedly, the combatants are called the “liberals” and the “conservatives” or the “left” and the “right,” but we should by now understand these are merely loose labels that describe no one accurately. They are meant to divide us, and are doing so quite successfully.
The economic war is largely enabled by corporations and corporate mentality, primarily that bottom line called profit. The political war is fueled primarily by posturing, pandering, self-serving politicians, and “leaders.” But make no mistake, both wars ultimately represent the same people and interests.
Ultimately, the beauty of the Petraeus Report is that it focuses more attention on the games that some people play. It’s my perception people are indeed beginning to slowly wake up to some of the reality of what is going on around them, and being done to them. My hope is this will happen sooner than later, and will eventually mend the division presently plaguing and weakening our great nation.
Comments
STEVE,I DID NOT READ THE ENTIRE ARTICLE....SO I PREFICE ANY COMMENTS WITH THAT STATEMENT. Remember Bush dropping from a helicopter in his specially designer made uniform with medals...how many years ago was that? Did anyone in the military or republican party say anything? Of course not! So far, unhappily, I have been ahead of the press for reasons that you know. It is not a pretty picture in the least. Medals on a uniform do not really always represent a real hero......We pay millions for athletes to entertain us......special uniform... crooked business coming out? My point is.........NO, NO ONE SHOULD BELIEVE ONE IOTA OF ANYTHING THAT COMES OUT OF ANY OF THE MOUTHS POLITCALLY MOTIVATED. WE ALL KNOW AN ASSASSINS BULLET (AHA) COULD TAKE OUT HE AND HIS FAMILY. THE GENERAL KNOWS THAT. That is how the country is now. I do not like being this direct, but that is how it is. Some of us know for a fact how it is! Bush at present is pushing to get himself the right to control the country, our country. He will do anything to override, undercut, kill to get what he wants. Bush is an alcoholic! HE has disappointed even his father who got him that seat. What is coming is all loss to americans if somehow we can't turn this around fast. I believe nothing without weighing in the extra sense. It is all lies Steven. Remember, one General, admired, resigned his duty just because he would not take a drug that was being given to our soldiers. Another long time member of our government information, also resigned so he could tell people the truth from the scientific arena when he was told to bury the information. He thought he was serving his country all these years, until Bush. I am sorry to say, I will not believe in our political system period as long as innocent die for one man's glory, illegal does mean illegal. Somewhere out there in a war zone of another war is my much older brother whose body never came home......I want truth! I think I will have to die to find it....sorry.
Posted by: BENITA | September 16, 2007 08:56 PM
I tend to agree with you Benita. There is little or no truth to be found among politicians. It's ashame. When you think about it, the whole political system presently stinks. You have people running for public office, who are allowed to obtain funding from special interests (which pretty much includes anyone that donates; it's just that some can donate a lot more than others), and of course they are then obligated to give something in return.
It's absolutely IMPERATIVE that campaign finance reform be legislated! That means NO private donors. Every candidate gets an equal amount of money from the government coffers, and equal time in the media. PERIOD! How can there possibly be an honest government until that is a fact? The fly in the ointment just happens to be that the people needed to legislate such reform are the same ones benefitting from business as usual.
It's also true the military works for the Commander in Chief. When you have an honest president, things probably run as smoothly as they can. When you have a dishonest lying dolt, like we have today, nothing can be trusted. So many high ranking officers have resigned or been terminated during this current Administraion because they just might be the honest ones. My cousin, an ex vice admiral, just might have fallen into that latter category.
I loved Bush's feigned outrage at the MoveOn ad at his press conference today. Just so happened it was a scripted question from a member of the Fox bunch, and the last question of the day. In other words, it was not open to discussion or counter questioning. This was the same press conference in which Bush, as inarticulate and embarrassing as always, let us all know that Nelson Mandela was dead. I bet that sure came as a big surprise to Nelson.
Posted by: Stephen Rose | September 20, 2007 10:35 PM
the silly faux outrage over the moveon ad begs the question (as i've been asking all week and Keith Olbermann asked tonight in his Special Comment) where was the outrage over the swift boating of Kerry and Max Cleland? as far as petraeus and his "honor" he is so covered in the blood of over a million Iraqis and almost 4,000 US troops that I fail to see it. the pr blitz for the surge failed just as petraeus failed his mission in Iraq. Iraq is NOT safer not even inside the Green Zone (formerly called the "safe zone"). patraeus can channel colin powell's circus show with phoney graphs and charts but it fools nobody not even with 24/7 spin from the white house and msm. the public didn't fall for it! does patraeus have as much "honor" as gen westmoreland? does he LIE as easily? can he sacrifice 54,000 MORE US troops to match the death count of Vietnam before the US finally exits? far from being "over the top" Betray US is too kind for the betrayal of his country, it's people, those under his command.
Posted by: heartfood | September 20, 2007 11:20 PM
Once again the “conservative” media machine swings into action in collaboration with the administration and like-minded legislators. Can’t you just picture their glee when the Move-On.org ad handed them a two-pronged weapon: a two by four with which to hit Democratic Senators over the head; an issue that could be sensationalized and distract people from the real issue – the failure of the surge.
Correct me if I am wrong but I think when you set a goal for a mission and you do not achieve that goal, the mission has failed. President Bush said the surge was to buy time for the Iraq government to achieve reconciliation. The Iraq government has not achieved anything like reconciliation. Therefore the surge failed.
Are we talking about or hearing about the success or failure of the surge? Are we discussing what we should do now? Are we working on a new plan for Iraq?
None of the above. Instead we are arguing about whether or not Move-On.org should or should not have run their ad.
And so here we are again, allowing the conservative media machine to dictate what we talk about and distract us from the important issue that we should be talking about. And our paid representatives in the Senate are wasting their time on a meaningless resolution about an ad instead of taking care of the real business of government. Enough already!
Posted by: Trish | September 21, 2007 04:28 PM
Amen Trish, you hit the nail right on the head. The issue should be the failure of the surge, and the continual death of American soldiers and Iraqi citizens, NOT a newspaper ad. It's all about distraction to too many Republicans, and why wouldn't it be? They are desperate to distract everyone from the real issues because nothing they are doing is working.
Sometimes I fear it's going to take millions of Americans protesting in the streets to get the attention of these self-serving, egotistic and unimaginative Republicans in our government, as well as the many spineless Democrats. I just hope it won't take storming the White House and Congress. These people don't represent the average American anymore, and they don't seem to "get" the growing resentment. Hell, people in Congress don't even bother to respond when you email them. The only thing that seems to get their partial attention is election time, and I'm not even sure how effective that is.
As a side note, I don't really know that this is a "conservative" problem, so much as a Republican issue. I don't really believe that "real" conservatives have much in common with most Republicans in office.
Posted by: Stephen | September 21, 2007 05:00 PM
The whole idea that the Senate took time to denounce the MoveOn.org ad is utterly ludicrous. What a monumental waste of time and what a moronic thing to do. I have had it with Congress in general, I think the Republican leadership is a pack of rabid wolves, and the Democrat leadership needs to get their heads out of their asses. That's what I think.
Posted by: Renee | September 22, 2007 05:05 PM
Renee, I think you are understating the situation! As a matter of fact, I'm presently composing a short blog about this present Congress.
Posted by: Stephen | September 22, 2007 05:11 PM
one more comment on this: the whitehouse and their minions made petraeus the poster boy for the surge and for progress in Iraq. the moveon ad was not a distraction it was on point. the whitehouse made petraeus the issue - moveon didn't.
the fact that it kept the subject in the mainstream media for a week and made the wingnuts rabid and many dems nervous was a result of the almost non-existant national debate on issues regarding the war in national media. the anti-war movement is not monolithic, there is room for many voices and many points of view. many dems cowered in the face of criticism of the moveon ad, fearing it would alienate moderates - but why?
did the wingnuts wring their hands over the swift boaters? over neocon slut ann coulter? of course not. Fox "News" is so extreme it makes even CNN look moderate. the anti-war movement isn't a fragile wimpy minority - it's a STRONG MAJORITY full of diversity. it has room for the thoughtfull reasoned writing of the author of this blog and for the radical elements too - room for intelligent discussion and room for attack dogs. everyone counts. for an excellent article on petraeus and the surge i suggest "Why Petraeus Failed By His Own Standards" Petraeus' standards
Posted by: heartfood | September 22, 2007 08:33 PM
honorable men dont lie for themselves or their government
IMO
Posted by: Ray | October 1, 2007 04:10 PM
Great point Ray, and sooooooo true! Makes you really wonder just how many honorable people there are out there? We hear about duty and honor all the time, but in my opinion, they are sure not synonymous with integrity.
Posted by: Stephen | October 1, 2007 06:35 PM