MoveOn.org has been famously censured for a New York Times ad where they rhetorically posed the question about General David Petraeus, a general who had spent two months preceding his Congressional testimony trying to convince Congresspersons and the media that his surge was working. MoveOn.org raised the question and it was a valid one. Now the American Conservative Magazine tries to give the answer in an article titled,
Sycophant Savior—General Petraeus Wins a Battle in Washington, if not in Baghdad”
Money quote:
“David Petraeus is a political general. Yet in presenting his recent assessment of the Iraq War and in describing the “way forward,” Petraeus demonstrated that he is a political general of the worst kind—one who indulges in the politics of accommodation that is Washington’s bread and butter but has thereby deferred a far more urgent political imperative, namely, bringing our military policies into harmony with our political purposes.” Col. David Hunt, Fox News contributor has written a piece titled: “Top Military Officials, a Disgrace to Those They Lead.” Glenn, Greenwald of Salon.com (subscription required but worth it just for Glenn Greenwald)
spells it out: “So to recap the Hunt/Fox argument: our Generals and other military commanders currently leading our Nation at War are "betraying our troops." They put their own selfish desire to advance their reputations and careers ahead of the welfare and lives of the soldiers they lead. The corruption and betrayal of these brave American Generals are preventing us from winning. These "poor excuses for officers" should be put on trial.”
Gee. MoveOn.org just asked a question and brought down the wrath of the right. The right accuses the general and the generals of actual betrayal and there’s not much noise. But what about General Petraeus? Jesse Wendel at the Group News Blog helps us understand the General’s distinguished career by analyzing his ribbons and his Wikipedia entry. (Most people don’t understand military decorations and when one sees a chest full like the General has it is most impressive). Jesse points out that
ribbons fall into these categories:
Valor (including I Forgot To Duck)
Everything Else
Atta Boy,
I Wuz There,
We Wuz There,
You Can Do X e.g: Shoot a rifle without blowing our balls off, jump out of an airplane, eat snakes, wear girl scout hats (and girl scouts too).
We're cooool.
Your Unit Did This Eons Ago So Be Proud you fool
And the ever popular Identification Badge We Hope Will Impress the Rest of The Army With Where We Work aka "We're So Stupid We Have To Remind Ourselves Where We Work"
and tries to answer the question that MoveOn.org didn’t ask: Is General Petraeus a REMF?
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