Petraeus versus the President?

Gareth Porter: US military leaders are pressuring Obama to cancel his Iraq withdrawal promise.

In part 1 of his interview with The Real News, Gareth Porter explains his discovery that Gen. David Petraeus, Defense Secretary Robert Gates, and other US military leaders have been applying pressure on Obama to change his plan for US withdrawal from Iraq. It appears, however, that Obama is standing firm on his campaign promise to withdraw all combat troops within 16 months of his inauguration. According to Porter, the military has already begun its public relations campaign to paint recent events in Iraq in their favor, while setting Obama up for the fall in the future.

In part 2 of this interview, Porter speaks in detail about General Jack Keane. Keane is a key player in the campaign to attack Obama's plans to withdraw forces from Iraq.

With Porter, The Real News examines the roots of Obama's break with the military leadership over Iraq. In doing so, we examine the leading voice for continuing the occupation, Gen. Jack Keane. Keane, like many so-called 'retired' military officials, has continued to participate in policy-making at the Pentagon, while simultaneously working in the private military contracting sector and commenting publicly on US foreign policy. In this sense, he serves as an example of the military-industrial complex at work.

For more from Gareth Porter, check out his post on Huffington here.

For more from The Real News, visit us at our website here.