Generals Pressuring Obama to Slow Iraq Withdrawal Planning Media Blitz From Crony Hawks

[bigtree]

WASHINGTON, Feb 2 (IPS) -

CENTCOM commander Gen. David Petraeus, supported by Defence Secretary Robert Gates, tried to convince President Barack Obama that he had to back down from his campaign pledge to withdraw all U.S. combat troops from Iraq within 18 months at an Oval Office meeting Jan. 21.

But Obama informed Gates, Petraeus and Joint Chiefs Chairman Adm. Mike Mullen that he wasn't convinced and that he wanted Gates and the military leaders to come back quickly with a detailed 16-month plan, according to two sources who have talked with participants in the meeting.

Obama's decision to override Petraeus's recommendation has not ended the conflict between the president and senior military officers over troop withdrawal, however. There are indications that Petraeus and his allies in the military and the Pentagon, including Gen. Ray Odierno, now the top commander in Iraq, have already begun to try to pressure Obama to change his withdrawal policy.

A network of senior military officers is also reported to be preparing to support Petraeus and Odierno by mobilising public opinion against Obama's decision.

. . . the network, which includes senior active duty officers in the Pentagon, will begin making the argument to journalists covering the Pentagon that Obama's withdrawal policy risks an eventual collapse in Iraq . . .

If Obama does not change the policy, according to the source, they hope to have planted the seeds of a future political narrative blaming his withdrawal policy for the "collapse" they expect in an Iraq without U.S. troops.


read more: http://www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=45640

[anonymous171]

1. Iraq will collapse regardless.

The idea of a multi-ethnic state is so foreign to the ME that I doubt whether the Iraqi state will survive once America leaves.

[bigtree]

4. they know that

. . . by hook or crook, the present military leadership in the Pentagon is desperate to preserve their Iraqi prize.

[DCKit]

9. More likely they're scared to death of being "downsized".

We, the peoples, are tired of war.

[Blue_Tires]

29. what they are REALLY scared of

is reduced funding from the pentagon to finance all their billion-dollar toys (built by their defense contractor buddies, of course) for playing toy soldiers in the sandbox...the war machine has to find ways to justify its existence, because it is the only major industry that does not profit from peace and prosperity...

the generals give less than a shit about iraq...for all their talk about the logistical difficulties of pulling out, if obama decided to invade some other country, every american would be out of iraq in 72 hours...

[TwilightGardener]

2. Time to pull the plug on this adventure, gentlemen--in case you hadn't

noticed, things aren't going so well at home. Sorry Bush suckered you into commanding a colossal mistake.

[TheDebbieDee]

3. ................

"A network of senior military officers is also reported to be preparing to support Petraeus and Odierno by mobilising public opinion against Obama's decision."

These senior officers should be subject to being Court-Martialed! The UCMJ is clear on this matter!

[TwilightGardener]

5. If they're retired, they can do it. If they're still in uniform, they're in big trouble.

Oops, it does say "active duty". I hope Gates is prepared to shut them down.

[atreides1]

11. Article 88 of the UCMJ

Any commissioned officer who uses contemptuous words against the President, the Vice President, Congress, the Secretary of Defense, the Secretary of a military department, the Secretary of Transportation, or the Governor or legislature of any State, Territory, Commonwealth, or possession in which he is on duty or present shall be punished as a court-martial may direct.


Maybe President Obama might want to remind these generals of this particular article.

I'm very sure that those general officers standing behind the President when he signed the executive orders for the closing of Guantanamo wouldn't have a problem with coming back on active duty.

[rocktivity]

6. If Iraq can't survive without us

it's all the more reason why we SHOULDN'T stay.

:think:
rocktivity

[stillcool]

7. What a bunch of hooey...

you'd think the United States was really going to pull up stakes and leave. These people know damn well that there will still be a military presence there..through however many military bases we retain, and the town created that is the embassy. Sounds like the Generals are pulling a Rush Limbaugh.

[Kittycat]

8. They'll regret their decision to undermine Obama

He's the commander in chief. Military officials do not have the right to go against him, once an order has been given. Doing so would be treasonous. Though I expect Obama will just make their lives political hell.

[Solly Mack]

10. Please...that was always the coming narrative...to blame the next President

for Bush's criminal fuck-up in Iraq. "If they had only stayed the course, if they had only did what Bush did, if they'd only did this...if they'd only did that...(the Bush/Cheney way)"

It wouldn't matter if Iraq collapsed completely tomorrow or 5 years from now....the narrative was always going to be to blame anybody but Bush. That was always going to be the right-wing spin.

[bigtree]

12. by now,

. . . many folks would expect that propaganda to be waged OUTSIDE of the new Democratic administration, not perpetrated and organized by the LEADERSHIP of Obama's Pentagon.

[Solly Mack]

14. Some might have expected that

but not all of us...Gates is loyal to the Bush brand....regardless of the face he shows.

The only continuity achieved by keeping any of them was keeping the Bush Admin. mentality entrenched.

[bigtree]

16. you should know

. . . I meant our overall expectations from the new administration, outside of the predictable allegiances and intentions of the Bush holdovers (the subjects of my own obsessive opposition).

[Kolesar]

17. The Obama government is only two weeks old

Petraeus is *still* the grocery delivery boy bringing the goods. He can quit if he doesn't like the job.

[bigtree]

19. This was Pres. Obama's decision to retain these folks - made months ago

If he's not up to speed on their activities by now, he damn well should be. I've been against this Pentagon arrangement from the beginning and I'm not at all surprised to find the generals attempting to undermine the new president's intentions.

Petraeus, and the others, can be FIRED if they don't support the administration's goals and intentions.

[Kolesar]

22. I think that Defense Sec'y Gates and President Obama have colluded to withdraw from Iraq

I don't think that Gates would have hung around if he did not have the (same) objective of withdrawal. Gates isn't there for the paycheck.

[bigtree]

23. I think Gates intends to manage any withdrawal

. . . in the same foot-dragging manner he's demonstrated so far.

I don't believe he's demonstrated or vocalized the same urgency for a withdrawal from Iraq in his new position that Obama expressed throughout his campaign. I really don't view his ambitions or intentions in Iraq as a match for Obama's. I think it's a crap shoot to expect these Bush holdovers to manage Obama's intentions in a way which preserves or maintains the principles he campaigned on. We'll see.

[Kolesar]

24. What did Gates say to make you believe that? eom

[bigtree]

25. apart from his call to delay the last recommended reduction of force in Iraq?

. . . I'm skeptical of the 'agreement' he's expressed with Obama because I think he's relying on Obama's promise to 'listen to the generals in the field' to effectively recommend a slower withdrawal - much like he did in the last administration - as he presents the President with what he calls a 'range of options'.

"We are working on a range of options for the president that range from essentially a completion of the work of the brigade combat teams, and a transition to assist and advisory role beginning at 16 months and then, at various intervals, proceeding further forward from that. And we're drawing those out for him, along with the risks attendant to each," said Gates.
http://www.voanews.com/english/2009-01-29-voa36.cfm

[Kolesar]

26. You are reading a lot into those articles

And and old Dept of Defense posting from 21 months ago when they "had" to promote "the Surge" is not relevant.

[bigtree]

28. don't act as if there isn't a clear record of support from Gates

. . . for remaining in Iraq as long as he can manage.

I provided one example. I'm not going to spend time on this post recounting his history with the Bush administration, his past, or his myriad of speeches and statements since the election and his announced retention. I've made several posts related to those. The past behavior of these generals and Bush Pentagon cronies certainly is relevant.

What Gates actively supported, defended, and promoted on behalf of Bush and Petraeus' deadly, political "surge" is certainly relevant to his ambitions, intentions, and prospect for managing Obama's decidedly different perspective on the Iraq withdrawal to completion. I'm surprised anyone would take a comprehensive (or even summary) look at Gate's past and argue the contrary.

[Kolesar]

27. dupe-deleted

[TwilightGardener]

15. I think that's the GOP strategy you've outlined. I think Petraeus/Odierno

have a more personal stake: they don't want to see their fragile "successes" turn to shit without our boys/money there endlessly safeguarding the "gains" they've been lauded for--for them, it's their own professional reputation and legacy in the history books they're concerned with, more than protecting Chimpy's legacy.

[Solly Mack]

18. I agree

it's personal for them...very. Petraeus has written on how he feels we could have won in Vietnam (if only....insert talking point here)

I've always felt he was re-fighting Vietnam in Iraq...trying to prove we could have won one with the other.

[Ichingcarpenter]

20. Petraeus always flaunts his medals like Soviet era General

That's always disturbed me and compared to General Marshal.
Even at the super bowl he had an odd arrangement on his beret.

I think he has major political ambitions.

[Solly Mack]

21. I think he does too...or did

he may be rethinking those odds right about now. snicker... I sorta expect a comment from him and Odierno shortly.

[Fleshdancer]

30. off topic: I LOVE your sig picture!

Where did you find it?

[Kolesar]

13. Retired Army Gen. Jack Keane is trying to politicize the withdrawl

That line seems likely to appeal to reporters covering the Iraq troop withdrawal issue. Ever since Obama's inauguration, media coverage of the issue has treated Obama' s 16-month withdrawal proposal as a concession to anti-war sentiment which will have to be adjusted to the "realities" as defined by the advice to Obama from Gates, Petreaus and Odierno.

...

Keane had operated on the assumption that a Democratic president would probably not take the political risk of rejecting Petraeus's recommendation on the pace of troop withdrawal from Iraq. Woodward quotes Keane as telling Gates, "Let's assume we have a Democratic administration and they want to pull this thing out quickly, and now they have to deal with General Petraeus and General Odierno. There will be a price to be paid to override them."

---*--
Great find, Bigtree! :thumbsup:

[Nickster]

31. This unfortunately is what happens when the CiC allows his senior military stuff to run around

acting like politicians for 8 years. Personally, I would have eliminated the senior staff if I were Obama and started with new leaders that understand they don't set foreign policy, they execute it, period. If any of this story is true, and I'm skeptical, the first step is to fire a shot across the bow and remove Petraeus ASAP and see if the rest of the wannabe leaders still want to play around in foreign policy.

[bigtree]

32. Petraeus and Pentagon Propaganda

Pentagon weighing news and spin - The top general in Iraq seeks to pierce the wall between public affairs and efforts that attempt to sway foreign populations.
Julian E. Barnes | Los Angeles Times | April 18, 2007
http://webserve.govst.edu/pa/Political/Cause%20Groups/info_prop.html

Lincoln Group Propagandists Paid to Tell Afghans Their Bombs are Worse than Ours
http://www.opednews.com/articles/Lincoln-Group-Propagandist-by-Ron-Fullwood-080808-41.html

Iraq Propaganda Program . . .
http://www.opednews.com/articles/opedne_ron_full_060322_iraq_propaganda_prog.htm

Inspector General Reports Pentagon Merged Their Propaganda With PR
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/12/11/AR2008121103319_pf.html