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?
Lawrence Korb, a senior fellow at the Center for American Progress who served as an assistant secretary of defense during the Reagan administration, worries that Petraeus could try too hard to accentuate the positive in Iraq. He has called Petraeus "the most political general since General [Douglas] MacArthur," who was considered a possible Republican contender in the 1952 election that ultimately went to Eisenhower. In particular, Korb points to a Washington Post op-ed Petraeus wrote a few weeks before the 2004 election, delivering an upbeat assessment of the progress made in training Iraq's security forces. "That's not something Eisenhower would do; MacArthur would do that," Korb says. "With MacArthur he was basically trying to influence the policy." Which means, Korb says, that Petraeus' Iraq assessment should be taken "with a grain of salt given his previous track record."
Last week, nearly three years after Petraeus reported signs of "tangible progress" in his Washington Post op-ed, while acknowledging "tough times" ahead, an independent congressional commission headed by retired General James Jones, the former commandant of the Marine Corps, said that it will be at least another year before the Iraqi army can take the lead in providing security for the country. In far worse shape is the Iraqi police force, which the report said is "incapable of providing security at a level sufficient to protect Iraqi neighborhoods."
Lawrence Wilkerson, the retired army colonel who served as Colin Powell's chief of staff at the State Department, calls Petraeus a "good officer" but questions his work training Iraq's security forces. "When he was associated with the training to get as many Iraqis stood up in the security arena, he was fascinated by numbers," Wilkerson says. "I had people working in Iraq, both civilian and military, who emailed me on a daily basis telling me that Petraeus was more interested in numbers than he was quality and that the forces that were being 'trained' weren't really viable. That's pretty much come to pass."
Wilkerson continues, "He's part of this whole process the Bush administration has created, which is a bunch of military leaders who are either scared to death or so fascinated with their own power and ambition that they're not willing to tell the emperor he's got no clothes on." Nevertheless, Wilkerson remains cautiously optimistic that Petraeus, together with Ambassador Ryan Crocker, will "provide a fair assessment of what's going on over there, with all the warts."
In terms of what Petraeus will say when he appears before Congress on Monday, "he has kept his thoughts very close to his chest," a person close to the general says. Reports that have trickled out over the past couple weeks indicate that he is likely to recommend maintaining an enhanced troop presence in Iraq into next year, in line with the Bush administration's stay-the-course stance. In a letter to troops on Friday, previewing what he planned to tell Congress, Petraeus was optimistic, while conceding that progress has not been "uniform." Describing the situation in Iraq as "exceedingly complex," he told the troops that "we are, in short, a long way from the goal line, but we do have the ball and we are driving down the field."
Meanwhile, the faint rumblings about an eventual Petraeus candidacy grew a bit louder in advance of his appearance on the Hill. On Thursday, the New York Sun ran an editorial suggesting a scenario in which the general rebukes congressional Democrats for "undermining" his mission and threatens to resign to take his "case to the voters in a run for the presidency on a campaign to finish the work of winning the war."
Most other observers see that as far-fetched. "I'm quite convinced that he's 100 percent concentrated on conducting the war," says Stephen Biddle of the Council on Foreign Relations, who met with Petraeus last spring as part of a team sent to Iraq to assess the effectiveness of the surge. "I don't think that I've seen any evidence that some desire for high political office is somehow polluting or distorting his judgment about Iraq."
For his part, Petraeus is clearly aware of the speculation—and doing nothing to either fan or discourage it. "I've heard him laugh every time anyone brings up the political aspects," says Colonel Steve Boylan, Petraeus' spokesman. Downplaying the Eisenhower comparisons, he likens Petraeus instead to General George Marshall, the army chief of staff during World War II, who refused to vote in order to remain above politics (just as Petraeus has done since joining the senior leadership, Boylan notes). "I've heard him state on the record and in various venues that he has no political leanings and that he plans on being a soldier for the foreseeable future," Boylan says. "What happens five, 10, 15 years from now, who knows?"
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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