[NYTr] Gary Hart on the Petraeus Report

[All the News That Doesn't Fit]

The Huffington Post via CubaNow - Sep 3, 2007
http://www.cubanow.net/global/loader.php?&secc=10&item=3235&c=2


The Petraeus Report

By Gary Hart

Cubanow.- Those seeking definitive authority either for staying in Iraq
or for leaving will be disappointed in the forthcoming Petraeus report.
It would be a very great surprise if General Petraeus concludes that we
have failed and should withdraw forthwith on the one hand, or finds
that the vaunted "surge" is working so well that we can foresee victory
in the foreseeable future on the other hand. Instead, like the war
itself, this report will claim some success and, reluctantly, point to
areas where progress has been limited.

This leaves open the question of what the fence-sitters, those
suspending judgment until this report comes in, will do now. Assuming
the report does not offer a solid conclusion of victory or failure, the
votes still needed to end U.S. combat operations are right where
they've been for months-blowing in the wind. There are very few
examples in history where complex political and moral judgments have
been resolved by some God-like authority.

This is even truer when the observer-authority has a stake in the
outcome. Whatever General Petraeus thinks about the Iraq invasion deep
in his soul, he would not be a senior military commander if he did not
believe his soldiers could overcome almost any obstacle, including
bitter insurgency, and if he did not take orders from civilian
authority. For him to say, Let's pack up and go, would be a vote of
no-confidence in his troops and in himself. Don't expect it.

On the other hand, wouldn't it be interesting, to say the least, if
General Petraeus's report said this:

Mr. President:

The United States Army and Marine Corps achieved their principal
mission of overthrowing Saddam Hussein and his government. We did so
with dispatch and minimum loss of life. We were then confronted with a
massive insurgency which U.S. civilian officials, including yourself,
did not anticipate and for which we have not been given adequate
personnel and resources. There is little if any prospect of resolving
this insurgency anytime in the next decade, if not longer. Further,
continued engagement in Iraq's civil war distracts us from our most
urgent mission in Afghanistan and erodes our stature in the world.
Therefore, it is my recommendation that all U.S. forces be withdrawn
from Iraq in an orderly but expeditious manner. In the event that this
recommendation is not accepted, I have attached my letter of
resignation from the United States Army.

David Petraeus
General, United States Army