Warner's Question

John Warner still wants to know if this work in Iraq is making America safer. Petraeus, tellingly, continues to have no real answer to this question, though in his better moments he's (correctly!) noted that answering such questions isn't really his job.

Comments

Lieberman just said that we should all "agree on the facts", particiularly the facts that were just presented by Petraeus. I don't agree with the facts, particularly since it has been reported on that the counting of "sectarian killings" is absolutely silly i.e. this one has a bullet hole in the back of his head = sectarian. Those just have bullet ridden bodies = non-sectarian, but they are all killed together. It's stupid.

And I particularly like how Petraeus and the militarly give everthing the fake veneer of math. "Battlefield Geometry". "Politico-Military Calculus". I severely doubt that there is any real actual math involved.

Posted by Bubba | April 8, 2008 11:16 AM

Well of course policymakers, not Petraeus, should answer such questions. But I don't see Petraeus ducking other questions in the category, such as John Warner's "Are we safer?" question.

Posted by Phil | April 8, 2008 11:18 AM

I'm glad that Gen. Petraeus noted that isn't his job. As someone who is in the military, it frustrates me to see how the military has been politicized.

The military's job isn't to worry about shaping US policy - it's just to carry out the military and humanitarian aspects in a legal and just manner.

Is Lieberman a contrarian at his core? What's his deal? Does he insist on being in the minority all the time? What a bewildering guy...

Posted by socctty | April 8, 2008 11:35 AM

This, of course, is Bush's standard tactic.

We're told Petraeus has all the answers, but of course he only has answers for what's going on inside Iraq, and those are subject to qualification. By making US security all about Iraq, the administration gets to put a General in front of Congress, and avoid dealing with the tough issues...including the larger question of whether or not Iraq is counter-productive to the national interest of the United States of America.

They do the same thing with all policy issues; on taxes you only talk about income tax, never about payroll taxes, property tax, sales tax or "fees." On the economy you only talk about the stock market, not about wages, not about income disparity, and god knows you never mention the percentage of children born in poverty.

By limiting the discussion the Bush team manages to, time and again, do precisely the wrong thing for America while acting as if they're doing the right thing.

America is heading in the wrong direction, narrowly focusing on Petraeus is part of the problem.

Posted by west coast | April 8, 2008 1:10 PM