Like Ike: Petraeus for President?
The man in charge of winning the war has been called a "walking mass of ambition." Is General David Petraeus eyeing a White House run?and what does that mean for what he says about Iraq?
Within the military, the White House, and the halls of Congress, General David H. Petraeus has become a near-mythic figure, which is perhaps fitting for a man who has been handed the superhuman task of bringing order to the seemingly intractable chaos in Iraq. Regarded as a straight shooter by Republicans and Democrats alike, and well respected among current and former military officials, his name has been invoked alongside those of legendary military leaders (among them Dwight Eisenhower) and tales of his keen intellect, competitive flair, and grit abound. According to one piece of Petraeus lore, several days after taking an M-16 round to the chest during a training mishap in 1991, he rose from his bed, dropped to the floor, and proceeded to do 50 pushups.
Colonel William Darley, the editor of the army-run journal Military Review, served under Petraeus while he was the commanding officer at Fort Leavenworth, home to the elite Army Command and General Staff College, where, among other things, Petraeus oversaw the drafting of the military's oft-touted Counterinsurgency Field Manual. Darley describes him as "a genuine soldier-scholar-diplomat" and a "lead by example" type of officer, adding that he is also "the most competitive person I have ever known—ever." He will not just beat you, Darley says, but "make a point of it."
"This guy is a major intellect with vision and discipline and drive—and he can do more one-armed push-ups than anyone I know," says Lieutenant Colonel John Nagl, a member of the writing team that produced the Counterinsurgency Field Manual. Nagl met Petraeus twenty years ago while interning at Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe, where Petraeus served as a speechwriter to then-NATO military commander General John Galvin. He recalls going running with Petraeus last year at Fort Sill in Oklahoma, where, he says, the general left men 20 years his junior "trailing in his wake and, literally, gasping for breath.
"He's been shot in the chest, he has a shattered hip, and he ran me into the ground," Nagl says.
Just as legendary as his competitive streak and fanaticism for physical fitness is Petraeus' ambition. A three-decade career in the military has seen him graduate at the top of his class at West Point, earn a Ph.D. from Princeton, and, most recently, receive his fourth star as a general. But in the eyes of some of his critics (who call him "King David"), his ambition reads as grandstanding and self-promotion. This image was no doubt reinforced in July 2004 when Petraeus, then in charge of training Iraq's security forces, appeared on the cover of an issue of Newsweek that bore the headline, "Can This Man Save Iraq?"
Petraeus' leadership qualities, combined with his role as the Bush administration's last hope for saving face on Iraq, has set off speculation that the general could run for office some day—possibly the presidency, in 2012. "This man is a walking mass of ambition," says a former senior intelligence official. "I'm sure he's thinking about Dwight Eisenhower every day. I know people who know him and they all think that's true."
The Petraeus-for-President scenario is out there, confirms Steve Clemons, a senior fellow at the New America Foundation and author of the popular beltway blog, the Washington Note. "A lot of people around him are beginning to think it's the natural way." Petraeus, he adds, could find himself on a "Wes Clark-like track, but on the Republican side."
Then again, cautions the former intelligence official, "Unless you're Dwight Eisenhower, George Marshall, or Douglas MacArthur, the chance that anyone is going to take you seriously, it's not very high. Look at Wes Clark. He's a bright fellow, but people just don't give a shit about him enough to make that a possibility. But if you came back from Iraq and there was a reasonable outcome, then a guy as attractive and well spoken as Petraeus would become a possibility."
A military official and longtime friend of Petraeus says he has "extraordinary political instincts," noting that he has put them to the test in Iraq in his negotiations with tribal leaders and the country's fractious political parties. "He would absolutely shoot me for saying this, but the nation would be very well served" if he ran for office, the official says.
So, if the general does harbor political ambitions, would that reflect on the progress report he is to deliver to Congress this week? One former military official who served in Iraq suggests that his reputation might be better served by providing a "rational assessment," even if that puts him at odds with the White House. "If he were to defy the president bent on distorting the truth, he would be honored many times over." On the other hand, the official adds, "If ambition starts to overrule duty, then we have a problem."
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It's hard to believe that General Petraeus is "the most political General since Eisenhower or McArthur" as your writer states. What about those international criminals Al Haig and Colin Powell?
Even so, Army politics is quite different than politics of the "real world" Republican / Democratic stripe. Military politics is based primarily on "sucking up" to a long line of superiors.
Sucking up? I recently
Sucking up? I recently retired after 36 years, my experience was just the opposite. Good commanders didn't want yes men, they are worthless. Dave Patraeus is brilliant, educated (Ph.D. Princeton), and a true leader. Imagine having leadership experience, you know, like being a community organizer.
Actually, the Kurds called him "Malik Daoud" - King David - as a mark of respect.
"Individual Moslems may show splendid qualities, but the influence of the religion paralyzes the social development of those who follow it. No stronger retrograde force exists in the world. Far from being moribund, Mohammedanism is a militant and proselytizing faith. It has already spread throughout Central Africa, raising fearless warriors at every step." -- Sir Winston Churchill - circa 1899
It is often asked, How did Buddy Hinton of Sturmgewehr.com become the New
Buddy Hinton Sturmgewehr.com??'This unrepetant, transgendered size queen is the single largest KY-Jelly consumer. Hah.. what the world needs is more gay gun nuts.. preferably ones who have stereotypical good taste in hip-hugging leather. Buddy Hinton Sturmgewehr.com
Left's foremost political guru? How did this immigrant cobbler's son become the hottest consultant/shaman/whipcrack to top world leaders and the haute art/fashion crowd on this or any planet? Why do the famous and not so famous movers and shakers, world leaders, trend-setters, dictators and democrats, Hollywood glamourites and hep young Xgen streetpeople beat a path to his ornate carved mahogany doors? Why are these A-list celebs and notorious oppressors and everyone else from J!mmie Carter to Papa Soros to Vlad Putin to Bobby Trendy to Hillary and the Pope lined up to get into Buddy Hinton's Euro-fab digs in the incredible old Sutro mansion outside of Frisco? It could be the incredible fried pies and the world class wine cellar, but it's not. It could be the treasures of sculpture and avante-gard furnishings, but it's really not that, either. The whole-house Bose system? No, not even that. So... what is it about this itinerate cobbler's son become raconteur and fashion policeman to the world's glitterati that makes him the center of today's Powerpeoples' world?
I am sick of ambitious, and competitive military men. Sick, sick and totally tired of them. The military molds a personality that is authoritian, and unimagitive. Ike was perfect for the 50s, but we don't need some damned self-perceived, super hero...we need someone of the people. (With a brain)..a humble American, NOT a warrior.
PRESIDENT EISENHOWER WARN US ABOUT THE MILITARY COMPLEX, THIS GENERAL IS NOT REAL, HE IS TOO POLITAL, WATCH OUT!!
LITTLE WHITE LIES OR NOT WATCH OUT!!
What another story on the Pentagon, we really need DECAGON! Then it will take 80% of our tax money to be sustained instead of the 40, now!
The change in Anbar war brought about by the Marines, on the work of one person. The story is in the WSJ. Where was Petraeus' Army when a solution was being found? Nowhere, but the General could be found giving interviews to all comers .
William "Mac" McCallister is a genuine American hero.
To Understand
Sheiks in Iraq,
Marines Ask 'Mac'
By GREG JAFFE
September 10, 2007
Ike was a popular understated general - unlike Patton and Montgomery. He succeeded not on his wit but on the wit of those beneath him. Someone who uses intimidation and charisma and leadership by example - while tending to awe those around him - does not get the best results even from great plans. Leadership by example is for hierarchical systems; total quality management involves leadership by empowerment of those serving you. When Petraeus gets adequate body armor and down time for his soldiers then I will be impressed.
Don't you think Decagon is too much? Actually, it sounds disturbingly like cagón in Spanish, which means puker. Why not just a simple square or a more humble triangle? I think the whole problem of American hubris was born the day when the political and military leaders decided to abandon the simpler shapes (look at the triangle in the American dollar)for more complex ones such as pentagons and other cagons. Perhaps in the absence of so many sides, it will offer not so good a target next time. Of course, it is also possible that American leaders wanted to sow confusion in the minds of their enemies in which case I'd support not only a decagon but even an icosahedron (a convex regular polyhedron composed of twenty triangular faces with five meeting at each of the twelve vertices).
He ain't Ike. Ike had the trust of almost all Americans based upon his competence and integrity. Petraeus has neither. He's a political hack for the current kleptocracy.
I sure hope NOT!
http://news.independent.co.uk/world/americas/article2956422.ece
This rascal shouldn't be allowed to occupy the office of City Dog Catcher, let alone the Offfice of the President of the United States of America. Let's leave the office with some dignity.
So what if Petraeus can do one armed pushups, can he tell the truth about what is really happening in Iraq? Will he stand up to the president with true information? That's the 24,000 dollar question.
"Stormin Norman" was a popular General because he was a winner! The American people will never support a loser! The Army Generals spent 20 years in exile after Vietnam and only after Desert Storm did the Army regain the respect of the American People. The Generals of a losing war can convince themselves that they are popular, but they cannot convince the American People.
As long as we only consider military minded people as presidential material, this country will continue its decline. It also serves the far right as a way of weeding out most female aspirants for the presidency. This ilk of man is a poor role model. "Might" is not usually right. The intolerance for women, non-whites, gays that military-style training entails mires us further in ignorance and bigotry. It also ensures that we will go to war with anyone they can find to fight and endangers all of our lives, as it won't be long now before it all goes nuclear. Military males define themselves by how mean, intolerant and brutal they can be. We need to look for a more intellectual person in order to reinstate the USA as a country to be proud of, as a progressive society, not the laughingstock of the world and the object of their hatred. We need an intelligent and sensible and MATURE adult who won't take pleasure in dividing us and isolating our precious United States. And one who can think deeper than just renaming foods like French fries. What an emotional cripple! And that is the shallow intellect of the military volunteer who goes to any war and believes any lie to do so.
As for Petraeus, he obeyed Bush by reporting what Bush and friends wanted us to hear, for his present and future financial and political aspirations. Self-centered just like Bush himself, turning a blind eye to sending our kids to die for his Oil interests and deceiving the ignorant that they were responding to 9/11. Pathetic! Patraeus can now rely on the far right war lovers to promote him as a qualified presidential candidate. Enough already.
I do not have the same opinion of Petraeus, that is outlined in this piece, and he sure is not in the same league as Eisenhower. Petraeus has violated his trust with the American people by going lock step with Bush. He is self serving, unlike Eisenhower, who was a patriot and an honest man. I am not a Republican by any strech of the imagination, but Eisenhower cared about this country therefore he is a noble man. He warned us all about the Military Industrial Complex, that we the people, now have. If Petraeus has any notion of running for President,he is not in touch with the American people. I think the we the people will remember that he lied for Bush about the war in Iraq, therefore he will never be President. We don't need another President, who wants to occupy or destroy another country.
General David Petraeus has my vote.
I think it's a sad commentary on American foriegn policy when a cmpetant general get's hoisted on peoples shoulder's as fodder for President.Still,compared with the herd of incompetants and syphocants he preceded he contrasts well. People like him, Gates, Hamilton, their not really hero's, their more like competant civil servants.I'd rather have someone like that..I dont know, it's hard to say who would make the next best American President. No more hill-billy preachers and dreamer's, please.
Maybe you are sick of ambitious, and competitive military men because of personal reasons? Oh and "(with brain)"...?? Are you saying all military people are dumb even the generals?
obama will have a quick 4 and out and be landslided by petraeus
I worked for Petraeus in BiH in 2001/02. I found him an honourable and immensely charismatic man.
Level 5 Leader
Petraeus shows all the qualities of a LEVEL 5 leader (Good to Great, Jim Collins). And unlike Obama, he actually has an unbelievable resume and the Upper East side can take comfort in the fact that this guy is a true intellectual, PH.D. Princeton Grad...unlike the Upper East side, he's not a class focused snob that thinks he's better than everyone else.
He definitely should run, the GOP is desperate for a guy like this.
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