Democrats Blast Petraeus Recommendations

Democrats today assailed the recommendations of US Commander in Iraq David Petraeus and US Ambassador to Iraq Ryan Crocker, who called upon the US to maintain surge-level forces in Iraq until summer of 2008.

"The time to end the surge and to start bringing our troops home is now," said Senator Barack Obama (D-IL), "not six months from now." Obama added that he "can only support a policy that begins an immediate removal of our troops from Iraq's civil war, and initiates a sustained drawdown of our military presence."

At a campaign stop in Florida shortly after Petraeus testified before congress, Senator Hillary Clinton (D-NY) told the audience, "Our troops who have performed heroically and have done everything they've been asked to do in Iraq have no business refereeing an Iraqi civil war... We need to get our troops home and let the Iraqi government take responsibility for themselves."

Other presidential contenders joined in the chorus. Calling the recommendations part of a "false debate," former Senator John Edwards (D-NC) said that "President Bush's Iraq strategy has failed, and Congress must not cave. Congress must support our troops by using every tool available to force the president to agree to a withdrawal."

New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson blasted the recommendations as "unacceptable, irresponsible and dangerous," noting that he did not "question the integrity or competence of these gentlemen, but the strategy George Bush and Dick Cheney have asked them to execute has failed."

Senator Chris Dodd (D-CT) also pointed to the White House as the source of the recommendations. "The fact that there are questions about General Petraeus' report is not surprising," he stated, "given that it was brought to you by this White House. In contrast, independent report after report indicates that the whack-a-mole strategy has made this the bloodiest summer of the war."

"Debating the merits of a tactic when the strategy that underlies it is failed," added Dodd, "is nothing more than a distraction from the work that needs to be done to bring this war to a close."

Democrats are confident that public opinion is on their side. "The stay-the-course strategy by General Petraeus and the President to leave all troops in Iraq has been rejected by the American people," said House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), who pointed to the National Intelligence Estimate, GAO and Jones Commission reports as proof that the surge is not helping the Iraqi government meet benchmarks set by President Bush earlier this year.

"We need a new direction in Iraq," Pelosi concluded, "that will protect our troops, promote stability in the region, and make America more secure."

Comments

[UrgentFury]

Supporting our troops by calling them traitors and liars is outright treasonous you venomous puking Libtards.

[poliblogger]

oh yeah. Nancy Pelosi needs BALLS
I guess having most of the country
supporting an end to this madness is not enough.
The decider and the enabler. Great team!

[Robert59]

What it all boils down to:

1. If you believe Iraq is the epicenter of the war on terror you'll side with Bush and company.

2. If you don't (meaning you believe Iraq is in a civil war and Al Qaeda in Iraq is a bit player who will be dealt with by whoever wins the civil war and isn't a global threat) you're in favor of total and immediate withdrawl.

What I conclude after yesterday's hearings. Same old gridlock. Bush will get his money; the troops will stay.

Just like Biden said. If you want an end to the war elect 67 Democrats to the senate, elect two thirds to the house, and elect a Democrat as president.

Nothing else will do.

Yesterday and the days to come has been a gross waste of time.

[hydenorhare]

It was bad enough watching guys like Wexler and Ackerman trying to establish their anti-American bona fides for you guys.

But wait until today when you get the same thing ... along with giant helpings of Senatorial Pomposity.

They had their staffs pouring over the numbers all night looking for something, anything, to use as a gotcha. They'll try what they can but the problem for them is that Petraeus knows his report and has confidence in it.

[bluesnot]

It almost looks like the Iraq mess is turning into an expensive extortion. Please Mr. Sunni Chief, be peaceful and America will give you a big stack of cash (or weapons, if you prefer). Please Mr. Shiite Tribal Leader, no more kidnappings and tortures, and America will give you a big stack of cash.

Big stacks of cash for everyone! The universal language of corruption.

[fact finder]

If the Democrats do not like his recommendations , I do not, Then they should shut up and do something about this farce called George Bush.

[kittycago]

Umm Mr. Dodd you and your fellow libs mandated that the president provide a progress report. So how can you now criticize him for actually (amazingly enough) followign the congress' mandate?
----------­----------­----------­----------­-------bec­ause to that point in the history of our nation did we have a lying egomanic lunatic and neocons running our nation.I never in my wildest dreams thought we would ever have a congress that would run a trillion dollar tab ,allow our wealthiest citizens to rape our tax base,and lie us into a premptive war based on an isolated group of idealogues who have a warped religous agenda.

[DELICIOUS]

THE LONGER WE STAY...THE MORE WE WILL PAY! 1400 YEARS THIS WAR HAS BEEN GOING ON! IT'S TIME TO WAKE UP NON-THINKERS AND TOOTH FAIRY BELIEVERS THIS IS REALITY.

[Chris]

Senator Chris Dodd (D-CT) also pointed to the White House as the source of the recommendations. "The fact that there are questions about General Petraeus' report is not surprising," he stated, "given that it was brought to you by this White House.

Umm Mr. Dodd you and your fellow libs mandated that the president provide a progress report. So how can you now criticize him for actually (amazingly enough) followign the congress' mandate?

[Canukistani]

Unless these gasbags are ready to do something concrete about ending this disgusting fiasco, they should just STFU.

[wsblake]

Go Cheney yourself,moron.

[Canukistani]

You're a clever fellow. I guess you're happy with non-binding resolutions. They seem to be accomplishing so much.

[Captain EdwardGraham]

'Swear Him In'

by Ray McGovern
That's all I said in the unusual silence on Monday afternoon as first aid was being administered to Gen. David Petraeus' microphone before he spoke before the House Armed Services and Foreign Affairs Committees.

It had dawned on me that when House Armed Services Committee Chairman Ike Skelton (D-Mo.) invited Gen. Petraeus to make his presentation, Skelton forgot to ask him to take the customary oath to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth. I had no idea that my suggestion would be enough to get me thrown out of the hearing.

I had experienced a flashback to a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing in early 2006, when Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) reminded chairman Arlen Specter (R-Pa.) that Specter had forgotten to swear in the witness, Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, and how Specter insisted that that would not be necessary.

Now that may or may not be an invidious comparison. But Petraeus and Gonzales work for the same boss, who has a rather unusual relationship with the truth. How many of his senior staff could readily be convicted, as was the hapless-an­d-now-comm­uted Scooter Libby, of perjury?

So I didn't think twice about it. I really thought that Skelton perhaps forgot, and that the 10-minute interlude of silence while they fixed the microphone was a good chance to raise this seemingly innocent question.

The more so since the ranking Republican representatives had been protesting too much. Practicing the obverse of "killing the messenger," they had been canonizing the messenger with protective fire. Ranking Armed Services Committee member Duncan Hunter (R-Calif.) began what amounted to a SWAT-team attack on the credibility of those who dared question the truthfulness of the sainted Petraeus, and issued a special press release decrying a full-page ad in today's New York Times equating Petraeus with "Betray-us­."

[Ammobob]

Petraeus refused to take the partisan bait from either side, taking a classic soldier's stance of just giving the facts as he sees them. He did not seek to defend the much-debated reasons for invading Iraq or the conduct of the war before he took command of U.S. forces in February.

Nor did he cast the war in terms the White House is fond of using -- a global fight against terrorism, where failure would threaten the U.S. homeland. Both Iran and al-Qaeda in Iraq, Petraeus said, are problems. But "the fundamental source of the conflict in Iraq is competition among ethnic and sectarian communities for power and resources.­"

From MSNBC.COM

So, he spoke truthfully? Where are the blatant LIES?

[bushdoescrack]

Petraeus refused to take the partisan bait from either side, taking a classic soldier's stance of just giving the facts as he sees them.


"the facts as he sees them", is a disturbing comment. bush also gives "the facts as he sees them", or the facts through god, as he would like us to believe.
if the general is even by the smallest of margins, right or left of center, then his facts mean squat.

[rabblerowzer]

War is a private enterprise

The owners of America’s monopoly media, and Rupert Murdoch in particular have brainwashed, betrayed and corrupted the people to the point that many can no longer distinguish between good and evil. Wrapping themselves in the flag and religion, Republicans have bombed and invaded two Arab countries rich in natural resources. Opium, heroin and oil are extremely lucrative cash crops. The war profiteers plan to invade Iran and Syria not to protect our oil supplies, but to allow corporate fascists to steal it. Everyone knows that, and yet many Americans are indifferent to the death and destruction our leaders (representatives) in both parties have unleashed on the world.

As long as war remains the most profitable private enterprise know to man, peace loving people will have their backs to the wall. The warmongers and profiteers sheep-dip our people in fear, lies and hate, 24/7. No one likes to admit they are brainwashed, but surely enough of us now recognize that this is the case. That boob-tube in your living room is a dispenser of lies, fear, hate and evil. And newspapers are no better.

Contrary to what millions of Americans think, war is no longer about national defense, it’s become a private enterprise owned and operated by obscenely rich plutocrats. We never meet these people because they live behind walls of government corrupting wealth and power. They hold the power of life and death for millions of people in their hands, while we stand shocked and awed.

Can we also no longer distinguish between truth and lies?

Why do we submit to this insanity and evil?

.

[bushdoescrack]

what a joke. the fucking general wants to withdraw troops, to the numbers of the pre surge. well golly, that's just great, but the stupid fucking americans will probably go for his smoke and mirrors suggestion.
americans are too fucking stupid to live.

[bluesnot]

That was mighty generous of him to toss us that bone.

[leftLibertarian]

Put against a disgusting turd of a President with the lowest poll numbers ever who started a war that should never have been begun, the Democrats do nothing, NOTHING but mouth empty words, empty Promises.

What girlie men!