Senate committee votes unanimously nominating General Petraeus

[harveyc]

with a promotion too. The same general who forcefully advocated Shrub’s troop surge plans in Iraq.

These are the same members of the Senate who want to pretend they are against the Iraq war, yet quietly approved this general.

I heard some of the Senate member's accolades for Petraeus ... they were sickening.

This war in Iraq will never end, not in this Congress. Our soldiers are being left there to die in a failed war.

[lancdem]

1. Petraeus isn't the problem

Bush is.

[harveyc]

3. Petraeus was a major factor in selling this plan ... n/t

[sweetheart]

2. in a real firefight

i'd like general patraeus to fight for the good guys.

Unfortunate indeed his alliance with the dark side... hopefully he won't be like anniken
and wind up with his legs burned off by lava on some remote planet.

[TheCowsCameHome]

4. More General shopping by the WH cabal. And they found their man.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

5. Petraeus is supposed to be the Army's #1 counterinsurgency expert,

and part of the new plan, employing his counterinsurgency tactics, involves sending troops into neighborhoods instead of cloistering them in protected areas. Leaving aside the established fact that the whole invasion was and is a colossal disaster that never should have occurred in the first place -- these counterinsurgency tactics might have been somewhat effective (or at least better than what actually was done) if they had been used at the very beginning. But now, almost 4 years later, it's way too late.

So it's my guess that Petraeus is hoping that, when finally given a chance to use his methods, he might be able to create a little more stability. If he succeeds, he'll be the hero of Iraq -- the guy who straightened out a huge, virtually intractable clusterfuck. He'll be Patton, Westmoreland, Montgomery. If he fails, at least he can't be blamed for being unable to repair the damage that somebody else (Bush and Cheney) created.

Petraeus is a smart guy; I'm sure he knows the odds are against him. The really hideous thing, of course, is that no matter how smart and capable Petraeus might be, a bunch of soldiers are going to be killed.

[harveyc]

6. The Senate confirms Petraeus 81-0

It is becoming obvious there is no "New Direction" or plan to end the Iraqi war and get our soldiers out of Iraq.

Congress appears to be hoping the "surge" works too. They should stop this hypocritical BS involving non-binding resolutions.

It is time to stop playing politics with our soldiers lives. Congress should either crap or get off of the pot.

This is looking more and more like a sham everyday.