General Petraeus insists he will not be bound by Obama's Afghan exit date

[CHIMO]

Source: guardian.co.uk

The US army general, David Petraeus, made clear today that he would not be bound by Barack Obama's promise to start withdrawing US troops from Afghanistan by July next year.

In his first interview since taking command of Nato troops in the country less than two months ago, the top general said he could foresee circumstances where conditions would make it impossible for him to recommend a reduction in forces.

Such an outcome would scupper President Obama's plans not to appear bogged down in a worsening Afghanistan conflict as he prepares for re-election in 2012.

Speaking on US television from his headquarters in Kabul, Petraeus said the controversial promise made by Obama in November that a surge of 30,000 US troops would be temporary and would start to be reversed in July 2011 was simply an attempt to increase the urgency of the international effort in Afghanistan.



Read more: http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/aug/15/general-petraeus-not-bound-afghan-exit

[Vincardog]

1. If General Petraeus refuses legal orders from his Commander he should be removed demoted and retired

[pinboy3niner]

6. It's a bad headline

From the story, nothing he said challenges the CiC's authority.

[rug]

17. You're assuming he'll get that order.

[tularetom]

2. Hope he has a lot of money

I'm assuming the cutoff date really means something and that the administration will stop pouring money down this fucking rat hole as of that date.

If Petraeus wants to finance this CF himself he should fly right at it.

[Mz Pip]

3. It's not his call.

He can make his recommendation but that is not the last word.

At least I can hope it will not be the last word.

[EmilyKent]

4. General Petraeus who retired abruptly.....

[babylonsister]

5. I have a feeling Obama won't like Petraeus 'making clear' anything

without Obama's approval. Didn't McChrystal do the same thing?

[Laelth]

7. Um ... if this is true, that's treason.

I have reason to believe that the headline is inflammatory and not entirely accurate.

-Laelth

[northernlights]

12. what reason is that?

Guardian Online is usually very good I always knew days and even weeks in advance what was *really* post 911 thanks to the Guardian.

On the other hand, so far Obama has a track record of being blatantly and publicly disrespected by his military direct reports. :(

[Laelth]

16. There are very few actual quotes from Petraeus in the article.

What he actually said is this: "I think the president has been quite clear in explaining that it's a process, not an event, and that it's conditions-based," Petraeus said.

In other words, what he said was that the President might change his mind. What he did not say is, "I won't allow the President to draw down troops, no matter what." The latter is treason. The former is not.

-Laelth

[Fearless]

8. MacArthur much?

[Chipper Chat]

9. G.T.F.O.O.A.

G.T.F.O.O.A. - NOW

[babylonsister]

10. digby thinks Petraeus is 'launching his campaign'...

http://digbysblog.blogspot.com/2010/08/man-called-petraeus-makes-his-move.html

The Man Called Petraeus Launches His Campaign

Video at link~

There's a counter campaign called Rethink Afghanistan, that's worth looking at and supporting. We don't want to think about this right now, but we'd better. It's not going away.

[madrchsod]

11. misleading headline but david....

keep your mouth shut and do what you are told.

[WoodyM]

13. While the military may be

consulted when making policy, it does not make policy. The Commander in Chief does. President Truman had to teach this lesson to General McArthur. I think it would be appropriate for Obama to teach Petraeus this lesson.

[seattleblue]

14. He is saying nothing different than what Gates and Biden have said.

They both have said the Afghanistan "withdrawal" will be limited and will involve as little as 2000 troops. http://tribune.com.pk/story/33783/2011-drawdown-in-afghanistan-will-be-%E2%80%98limited%E2%80%99-gates/

[saracat]

15. Of course he did. And Obama will say he listens to his "Commanders on the ground". All CIC

say the same. You were expecting anything different?

[msongs]

18. Bush republicans run the pentagon and war department. no big surprise here nt

[MannyGoldstein]

19. The withdrawal date has already been admitted to be bogus

The day after Obama announce that the withdrawal would begin next year, Clinton and Gates made the rounds on the talk shows saying that Obama was just joking. From http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/07/world/asia/07policy.html

WASHINGTON — Perhaps only a “handful” of American troops will be leaving Afghanistan in July 2011, the date President Obama has set to begin a gradual withdrawal, Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates said in an interview broadcast Sunday.

“We will have 100,000 forces, troops there,” Mr. Gates said on ABC’s “This Week,” “and they are not leaving in July of 2011. Some, handful, or some small number, or whatever the conditions permit, will begin to withdraw at that time.”

“I don’t consider this an exit strategy,” he continued, “This is a transition.” He said it would begin in less-contested parts of Afghanistan before expanding to the most obdurate Taliban strongholds, largely in the south and east.

The White House used appearances on the Sunday talk programs to convey that the deadline would mark the start, not the end, of troop withdrawal. “2011 is not a cliff, it’s a ramp,” Gen. James L. Jones, the national security adviser, said.

[Odin2005]

20. Then resign, you treasonous SOB.

[Synicus Maximus]

21. The headline is misleading at best. I watched the interview and

Petratus didn't say that he "not be bound by Obama's Afghan exit date. He said the same thing as the Administration has been saying "It's a process, not an event. It's one that's to be conditions-based."

[Amonester]

22. I've got the conditions here, and it's:

Get.Out.Of.That.Useless.Money.Pitt.NOW

We don't even have the money to throw it in there to begin with.

Why.Keep.Borrowing.It.Each.Fkg.Day? Who.Will.Pay? And.How.Much???

[Amonester]

23. O.O.A.N.

[defendandprotect]

24. If Obama has any backbone ... that's a signal that Petraeus should be FIRED -- !!

[Turborama]

25. Shame on The Guardian, I watched it and have just read the transcript

I can't see him saying "he will not be bound by Obama's Afghan exit date" or, as the article goes on to say, that he "made clear today that he would not be bound by Barack Obama's promise to start withdrawing US troops from Afghanistan by July next year.".

MR. GREGORY: You faced this before, there’s a Washington clock, and there is talk of a deadline, July 2011, when forces are supposed to begin to come out. Is your job here now as commander to try to slow down that Washington clock?

GEN. PETRAEUS: Well, I think our job is, again, to show those in Washington that there is progress being made, and to do that we’ve got to build on the progress that has been established so far because there’s certainly nothing like irreversible momentum. What we have are areas of progress, we’ve got to link those together, extend them and, and then build on it because, of course, the security progress, as you noted earlier, is the foundation for everything else, for the governance progress, the economic progress, rule-of-law progress and so forth. Obviously, they influence security as well. They can either reinforce it or they can undermine it. And the, and the trick is to get all of it moving so that you’re spiraling upward where one initiative reinforces another.

MR. GREGORY: General Petraeus says he supports the beginning of troop withdrawal next July, but it’s a qualified response to a highly charged issue back in Washington.

GEN. PETRAEUS: Vice President Biden has also commented on it. He said recently, I think, it could be as little as a couple of thousand troopers who go home next July. Again, that remains to be seen, and it would be premature to have any kind of assessment at this juncture about what we may or may not be able to transition. What the president very much wants from me, and, and what we talked about in the Oval Office is the responsibility of a military commander on the ground to provide as best professional military advice, leave the politics to him. Certainly I’m aware of the context within which I offer that advice, but that just informs the advice, it doesn’t drive it. The situation on the ground drives it. That’s what he wants, that’s what he, he told me to provide, and that’s what I will provide.

MR. GREGORY: You...

GEN. PETRAEUS: That’s what I owe the country and our troopers who are fighting hard on the ground.

MR. GREGORY: But you’ll take a hard look at this, and you’ll make a determination about when America’s footprint should be diminished, when that’s appropriate?

GEN. PETRAEUS: Absolutely. Yeah. And again, as he has said, as NATO officials have said, conditions-based, and that’s a real key element of this. And then we have since drawn up a number of other principles and guidelines which we’ve provided up our operational chain of command.

Unless I missed something in the rest of the transcript: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/38686033/ns/meet_the_press-transcripts

I wish I hadn't rec'd it before verifying, now.

[Xenotime]

26. So it is Betrayus after all. That's not why President Obama put him in there.

[No Elephants]

27. Guardian headline bullshit. Not what Petraeus said.

"I think the president has been quite clear in explaining that it's a process, not an event, and that it's conditions-based," Petraeus said."

Try reading past the headline before knee jerking.

[Turborama]

28. +1

I am a regular reader of the Guardian's articles, often post them here and am very disappointed with this lie of a headline / article.

The NYT have also lied about what he said: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/16/world/asia/16petraeus.html?_r=2&ref=global-home

[Bragi]

29. So has the White House challenged Petraeus' statements?

I thought not.

Accordingly, it's obvious what's going on here. The Pentagon is doing what is needed to assist the President in reneging on his withdrawal commitment.

[rocktivity]

30. Sounds like insubordination to me.

Maybe he's the one who needs to make the exit.

:headbang:
rocktivity