Expect Nothing But Spin

Anyone who thinks that we are going to get an honest assessment from General Petraeus in the next few days may want to re-think that opinion.

This is why: Three years ago, he published an opinion piece in the Washington Post saying that the war was winnable and that good things were happening and that there was reason for optimism.

Two points: First off, he clearly was mistaken. There are few constants in this, Chimpy's Clusterfuck of a War, but one of them is this: Things can always get worse and they usually do.

Second: Take a look at the date of the op-ed. it was published on September 26, 2004. That was about six weeks before the presidential election. Six weeks before an election and a supposedly non-partisan general officer takes to one of the pre-eminent newspapers in the country to argue, in essence, that Bush is doing the right thing and that Bush is absolutely right to stay the course.

So much for the general staff being non-political.

It is no secret that Bush cast a pretty wide net to find a general who would support the AEI Surge Strategy. One should not be surprised if the general he hand-picked to implement it says anything other than "yup, things are going well, indeed, gawrsh, ayup."

Petraeus got his fourth star in order to be given this command. Does anyone really expect him now to bite the hand that fed him?