Petraeus - Pied Piper to the Republicans
I think it's important to note that Petraeus' testimony and the concomitant White House PR blitz is not aimed at the American people, but instead towards the Republicans in Congress and the small base of remaining Iraq supporters in the country.
The goal is simply to stave off a Congressional voting bloc that could mandate changes to the current plan past the '08 election.
But as the majority of Americans have a fairly calcified opinion on the Iraq war as a whole, I have to wonder if Petraeus is actually serving as Pied Piper, luring the Republican Congressmembers away from the people they represent.
The Bush strategy right now is to get these Republican Congresspeople into '08 with a pro-Iraq position that can't be changed mid-campaign.
But I find myself wondering whether, come '08, the Republicans will find themselves looking around and alone, seeing only wilderness, and cursing the President and his Piper who led them there.
The goal is simply to stave off a Congressional voting bloc that could mandate changes to the current plan past the '08 election.
But as the majority of Americans have a fairly calcified opinion on the Iraq war as a whole, I have to wonder if Petraeus is actually serving as Pied Piper, luring the Republican Congressmembers away from the people they represent.
The Bush strategy right now is to get these Republican Congresspeople into '08 with a pro-Iraq position that can't be changed mid-campaign.
But I find myself wondering whether, come '08, the Republicans will find themselves looking around and alone, seeing only wilderness, and cursing the President and his Piper who led them there.
posted by mikevotes at
6:50 AM
2 Comments:
And you have to wonder what this is doing to the military. Joint Chiefs are not on board, CENTCOM commander is not on board, most of the troops don't seem to be with Petraeus either.
By
Anonymous, at 11:22 AM
I don't really have a sense of whether soldiers are with Petraeus, but I feel that I can say that a fair number aren't, but whether that will create the same kind of upper rank/lower rank division and distrust, I don't know.
We do know that long term NCO's and recent Westpoint grads are leaving at an unprecedented rate.
By
mikevotes, at 1:16 PM
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