Religions > Atheism > American Conservative Mag Mocks Petraeus As Sycophant Savoir¹ - Will Congress Condemn It Like They Did the Moveon.org Ad?
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Religions > Atheism |
| User: |
"james g. keegan jr." |
| Date: |
30 Sep 2007 02:39:59 PM |
| Object: |
American Conservative Mag Mocks Petraeus As Sycophant Savoir¹ - Will Congress Condemn It Like They Did the Moveon.org Ad? |
American Conservative Mag Mocks Petraeus As Sycophant Savoir¹ - Will
Congress Condemn It Like They Did the Moveon.org Ad?
Posted by Jon Ponder | Sep. 29, 2007, 4:51 pm
The cover of the October 8, 2007, issue of Pat Buchanan¹s magazine,
American Conservative, shows a photo of Gen. David Petraeus under the
headline, ³Sycophant Savior.² The cover story is subheaded, ³General
Petraeus wins a battle in Washington if not in Baghdad.²
Compare the criticism implied in that headline with the much vilified
headline of the ad from Moveon.org: ³General Petraeus or General
Betray Us? Cooking the books for the White House.²
Beyond the headline, the American Conservative article is harshly
critical of the general and the partisan political role he has chosen
to play. The writer, Andrew J. Bacevich, describes Petraeus as a
³politcal general of the worst kind one who indulges in the
politics of accommodation that is Washington¹s bread and butter but
has thereby deferred a far more urgent political imperative, namely,
bringing our military policies into harmony with our political
purposes.²
Bacevich accuses Petraeus of deploying a strategy in Iraq that is
designed to succeed politically in Washington, not militarily in Iraq:
Petraeus has chosen a middle course, carefully crafted to cause
the least amount of consternation among various Washington
constituencies he is eager to accommodate. This is the politics of
give and take, of horse trading, of putting lipstick on a pig.
Ultimately, it is the politics of avoidance.
Petraeus¹ critics make a good case, says Bacevich, when they accuse
him of ³relying on dubious statistics, with ignoring facts that he
finds inconvenient, and with discovering trends where none exist.
They question whether to credit the much-touted progress in Anbar
province to American shrewdness or to the vagaries of Iraqi sectarian
and tribal politics. They cite the pathetic performance of the
corrupt and dysfunctional Iraqi government. They note the disparity
between the Petraeus assessment and those offered by the intelligence
community, by the Government Accountability Office, and by
congressionally appointed blue-ribbon commissions. They point out
that other highly qualified and well-informed senior military
officers notably, Gen. George Casey, the army chief of staff, and
Adm. William Fallon, commander of United States Central Command have
publicly expressed views notably at odds with those of General
Petraeus.²
If the surge is working, as Petraeus claimed in his congressional
testimony, a strong military leader would exploit the opportunities
provided by the increased security by pouring in resources to bring
the enemy to bay. Instead, Petraeus recommends ending the surge by
reducing forces. The only reason for acting in such a
counter-military way, Bacevich suggests, is politics. The strategy
has nothing to do with ³victory² in Iraq, and everything to do with
appeasing Petraeus¹ interest groups in Washington, including the
Joint Chiefs of Staff, moderate Republicans in Congress (as well as
the Democrats) and even Pres. Bush.
Bacevich concludes:
Politically, it qualifies as a brilliant maneuver. The general¹s
relationships with official Washington remain intact. Yet he has
broken faith with the soldiers he commands and the Army to which he
has devoted his life. He has failed his country. History will not
judge him kindly.
When Moveon.org criticized Petraeus for many of these same reasons,
the Senate passed a resolution condemning the liberal group that read:
To express the sense of the Senate that General David H.
Petraeus, Commanding General, Multi-National Force-Iraq, deserves the
full support of the Senate and strongly condemn personal attacks on
the honor and integrity of General Petraeus and all members of the
United States Armed Forces.
We¹ll be waiting to see if anyone drafts a similar measure condemning
the American Conservative magazine.
http://www.pensitoreview.com/2007/09/29/american-conservative-mag-mock
s-petraeus/
--
"New York Times has all ready sent me a response stating you have
been warned."
-- prison clerk heishman lying as "Osprey" <noneedtok...@mail.com>
in news:2rCdnZNy7LA5OojdRVn_iw@comcast.com
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| User: "B1ackwater" |
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| Title: Re: American Conservative Mag Mocks Petraeus As Sycophant Savoir¹ - Will Congress Condemn It Like They Did the Moveon.org Ad? |
30 Sep 2007 04:13:22 PM |
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On Sun, 30 Sep 2007 15:39:59 -0400, "james g. keegan jr."
<jgkeegan@gmail.com> wrote:
American Conservative Mag Mocks Petraeus As Sycophant Savoir¹ - Will
Congress Condemn It Like They Did the Moveon.org Ad?
They should - unless the mag can present damned good
evidence that the general is practicing partisan
politics instead of remaining "pure" and outside
the system - a soldier instead of a politician.
One complicating factor is that the policies of any
given administration may indeed look good to the
military eye. That may create the appearance of
partisanship or of being a synchophant when such
nasties really aren't involved. If a president
comes up with what seems a good, logical military
strategy then you certainly wouldn't expect the
field commanders to REJECT it, would you ?
Unfortunately, Petraeus is WRONG about the current
strategy. It won't work. The reason it won't work
is because there's no viable Iraqi government to
take the burden from us. Any "improvement" is
superficial and will disappear the instant we
decrease our efforts. The current Iraqi
government is a total farce, incapable of taking
responsibility to keep public toilets clean much
less of shouldering the insurgent/terorist suppression
effort. There's no sign this will improve.
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| User: "strabo" |
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| Title: =?windows-1252?Q?Re=3A_American_Conservative_Mag_Mocks_?==?windows-1252?Q?Petraeus_As_=8CSycophant_Savoir=B9_-_Will_C?==?windows-1252?Q?ongress_Condemn_It_Like_They_Did_the_Move?==?windows-1252?Q?on=2Eorg_Ad=3F?= |
01 Oct 2007 02:26:35 AM |
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B1ackwater wrote:
On Sun, 30 Sep 2007 15:39:59 -0400, "james g. keegan jr."
<jgkeegan@gmail.com> wrote:
American Conservative Mag Mocks Petraeus As Sycophant Savoir¹ - Will
Congress Condemn It Like They Did the Moveon.org Ad?
They should - unless the mag can present damned good
evidence that the general is practicing partisan
politics instead of remaining "pure" and outside
the system - a soldier instead of a politician.
It is not the business of Congress to suggest thought or
admonish private speech.
Congress is as responsible for current monetary woes and
foreign policy as the president.
One complicating factor is that the policies of any
given administration may indeed look good to the
military eye. That may create the appearance of
partisanship or of being a synchophant when such
nasties really aren't involved. If a president
comes up with what seems a good, logical military
strategy then you certainly wouldn't expect the
field commanders to REJECT it, would you ?
Unfortunately, Petraeus is WRONG about the current
strategy. It won't work. The reason it won't work
is because there's no viable Iraqi government to
take the burden from us. Any "improvement" is
superficial and will disappear the instant we
decrease our efforts. The current Iraqi
government is a total farce, incapable of taking
responsibility to keep public toilets clean much
less of shouldering the insurgent/terorist suppression
effort. There's no sign this will improve.
Once they killed the man who could make Iraq work and
produced no effective replacement, failure was immediate.
They should have tossed out some meat as a distraction
and left.
This was a policy and strategy failure not a military
failure. But, since the military has no common voice
and continues to dance to Bush's tune, we can be assured
that the institution is irreversibly damaged.
----== Posted via Newsfeeds.Com - Unlimited-Unrestricted-Secure Usenet News==----
http://www.newsfeeds.com The #1 Newsgroup Service in the World! 120,000+ Newsgroups
----= East and West-Coast Server Farms - Total Privacy via Encryption =----
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| User: "james g. keegan jr." |
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| Title: Re: American Conservative Mag MocksPetraeus As Sycophant Savoir1 - Will Congress Condemn It Like They Did the Moveon.org Ad? |
01 Oct 2007 05:15:39 AM |
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In article <1191223307_3951@sp12lax.superfeed.net>,
strabo <strabo@flashlight.net> wrote:
B1ackwater wrote:
On Sun, 30 Sep 2007 15:39:59 -0400, "james g. keegan jr."
<jgkeegan@gmail.com> wrote:
American Conservative Mag Mocks Petraeus As Sycophant Savoir1 - Will
Congress Condemn It Like They Did the Moveon.org Ad?
They should - unless the mag can present damned good
evidence that the general is practicing partisan
politics instead of remaining "pure" and outside
the system - a soldier instead of a politician.
It is not the business of Congress to suggest thought or
admonish private speech.
did you express that view when congress condemned move on?
--
"New York Times has all ready sent me a response stating you have
been warned."
-- prison clerk heishman lying as "Osprey" <noneedtok...@mail.com>
in news:2rCdnZNy7LA5OojdRVn_iw@comcast.com
.
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| User: "strabo" |
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| Title: =?windows-1252?Q?Re=3A_American_Conservative_Mag_MocksPe?==?windows-1252?Q?traeus_As_=91Sycophant_Savoir1_-_Will_Congr?==?windows-1252?Q?ess_Condemn_It_Like_They_Did_the_Moveon=2E?==?windows-1252?Q?org_Ad=3F?= |
04 Oct 2007 08:42:17 PM |
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james g. keegan jr. wrote:
In article <1191223307_3951@sp12lax.superfeed.net>,
strabo <strabo@flashlight.net> wrote:
B1ackwater wrote:
On Sun, 30 Sep 2007 15:39:59 -0400, "james g. keegan jr."
<jgkeegan@gmail.com> wrote:
American Conservative Mag Mocks Petraeus As Sycophant Savoir1 - Will
Congress Condemn It Like They Did the Moveon.org Ad?
They should - unless the mag can present damned good
evidence that the general is practicing partisan
politics instead of remaining "pure" and outside
the system - a soldier instead of a politician.
It is not the business of Congress to suggest thought or
admonish private speech.
did you express that view when congress condemned move on?
No, but the same applies.
----== Posted via Newsfeeds.Com - Unlimited-Unrestricted-Secure Usenet News==----
http://www.newsfeeds.com The #1 Newsgroup Service in the World! 120,000+ Newsgroups
----= East and West-Coast Server Farms - Total Privacy via Encryption =----
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| User: "james g. keegan jr." |
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| Title: Re: American Conservative Mag MocksPetraeus As Sycophant Savoir1 - Will Congress Condemn It Like They Did the Moveon.org Ad? |
04 Oct 2007 08:43:40 PM |
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In article <1191548229_6997@sp12lax.superfeed.net>,
strabo <strabo@flashlight.net> wrote:
james g. keegan jr. wrote:
In article <1191223307_3951@sp12lax.superfeed.net>,
strabo <strabo@flashlight.net> wrote:
B1ackwater wrote:
On Sun, 30 Sep 2007 15:39:59 -0400, "james g. keegan jr."
<jgkeegan@gmail.com> wrote:
American Conservative Mag Mocks Petraeus As Sycophant Savoir1 - Will
Congress Condemn It Like They Did the Moveon.org Ad?
They should - unless the mag can present damned good
evidence that the general is practicing partisan
politics instead of remaining "pure" and outside
the system - a soldier instead of a politician.
It is not the business of Congress to suggest thought or
admonish private speech.
did you express that view when congress condemned move on?
No
no surprise.
--
"New York Times has all ready sent me a response stating you have
been warned."
-- prison clerk heishman lying as "Osprey" <noneedtok...@mail.com>
in news:2rCdnZNy7LA5OojdRVn_iw@comcast.com
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| User: "Al Klein" |
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| Title: Re: American Conservative Mag Mocks Petraeus As Sycophant Savoir¹ - Will Congress Condemn It Like They Did the Moveon.org Ad? |
01 Oct 2007 07:57:14 AM |
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On Mon, 01 Oct 2007 03:26:35 -0400, strabo <strabo@flashlight.net>
wrote:
It is not the business of Congress to suggest thought or
admonish private speech.
Yet they do it, but you only complain if they do it to neocon speech.
Congress is as responsible for current monetary woes and
foreign policy as the president.
The devaluation of the dollar is due to loss of confidence in the US
over the last 6-1/2 years so, while the branch of government known as
Congress is equally responsible, the current Congress isn't.
--
Al at Webdingers dot com
"They laughed at Newton, they laughed at Einstein, but they also laughed at
Bozo the Clown."
- Carl Sagan
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| User: "Al Klein" |
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| Title: Re: American Conservative Mag Mocks Petraeus As Sycophant Savoir¹ - Will Congress Condemn It Like They Did the Moveon.org Ad? |
30 Sep 2007 10:24:16 PM |
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On Sun, 30 Sep 2007 21:13:22 GMT, (B1ackwater) wrote:
The current Iraqi government is a total farce
Which is exactly what we want - a 'Potemkin government'. A real
government, either Sunni or Shia, would have kicked us out long ago.
We have make-believe governments in Iraq, Pakistan and Afghanistan.
Who's next? Iran?
--
Al at Webdingers dot com
"They laughed at Newton, they laughed at Einstein, but they also laughed at
Bozo the Clown."
- Carl Sagan
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| User: "Al Klein" |
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| Title: Re: American Conservative Mag Mocks Petraeus As Sycophant Savoir¹ - Will Congress Condemn It Like They Did the Moveon.org Ad? |
30 Sep 2007 10:20:21 PM |
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On Sun, 30 Sep 2007 15:39:59 -0400, "james g. keegan jr."
<jgkeegan@gmail.com> wrote:
We¹ll be waiting to see if anyone drafts a similar measure condemning
the American Conservative magazine.
IOKIYAR. Or a neocon.
--
Al at Webdingers dot com
"They laughed at Newton, they laughed at Einstein, but they also laughed at
Bozo the Clown."
- Carl Sagan
.
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