Bush Waterboy General Petraeus Gets Promotion
The ever loyal to President George Bush one General David Petraeus is named as the next U.S. Central Command Chief, in a statement by Robert Gates, US Secretary of Defense.
General Petraeus, age 55, will replace the outspoken and talented Admiral William Fallon. Admiral Fallon retired last month after a running dispute with the Bush administration over perceived policy differences on Iran hit the fan with a Fallon interview article that was published in Esquire Magazine.
In the article Fallon stated that he thought having dialogue with Iran would be more constructive at relaxing tensions with Iran rather than continuing with the Bush approach of issuing a series of threats. This line of thinking did not go over at all well with the Bush Whitehouse.
In addition, there were rumors that Fallon had clashed with Petraeus over whether to draw down troop levels in Iraq. Even thought Fallon was his boss Petraeus had the full backing of the Bush Whitehouse on carrying out the surge policy in Iraq. Petraeus was probably effective at making an end run around Fallon and communicating directly with Robert Gates and President Bush on this issue.
Petraeus is probably best known to most Americans from his appearances on national TV and the C-Span Channel in testifying before the US Senate about conditions in Iraq. Petraeus testimony said almost exactly what the Bush administration wanted to hear about the surge and the “improvement” in conditions in Iraq. Petraeus appeared with Robert Gates with a multitude of colored charts showing how well the surge was working.
Some might say that Petraeus’s testimony was a bit too accommodating to the Whitehouse. But what is an ambitious General to do when placed in such a situation? His testimony was politicized from the get go as he became in effect the President’s waterboy before congress. Petraeus had the credibility that the President’s civilian cabinet members and staffers did not have.
One might argue about the wisdom of politicizing the testimony of a career military officer in such a manner but for General Petraeus, the loyal trooper, it has certainly paid off. Bush does not like to hear opinions that are not in line with his own. So Petraeus has his reward and Admiral Fallon, said to have been one of the brightest strategic thinkers and planners in the US military, is in early retirement.
Carrying the President’s water does have its privileges and benefits. General Petraeus is a smart ambitious career Army officer and had that figured out long ago.
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