I was watching Andrea Mitchell's interview Petraeus in Baghdad

[JohnnyRingo]

She prefaced by saying he has no political connections (bullshit).

Then when she asked him about Maliki requesting a timetable for withdrawal, he went on about how Maliki and his country are in the beginnings of sovereignty, and he's expected to make these kinds of decisions. He implied that he was just kind of practicing being a leader.

Petraeus spun the request as if we still have Iraq's democracy on training wheels, and daddy's not ready to stop running alongside yet...so forget it, they don't know what they're doing.

I see the administration in full panic mode over Obama's Baghdad visit, and I expect the greeting military dignitaries at the airport to be wearing large yellow smiley face masks upon his arrival. (There's an editorial cartoon for someone)

Already the White House has sent spokespersons to the cable media channels to portray Obama as wrong on policy, if not downright ignorant.

No political connection?
With the Buxh admin... everything's political.

[kentuck]

1. Obama has said more than once that he will make the decisions...

and the Generals, including General Petraeus, will carry out those orders. General Petraeus is not the Commander in Chief. He can resign and run as a Republican in the next election if he cannot follow orders.

[tbyg52]

2. They are either a sovereign country or they ain't

If they ain't, then we're occupiers. BushCo can't have it both ways.

[ReadTomPaine]

3. Sounds like she was wearing her kneepads, as usual. n/t

[kentuck]

4. General Petraeus should understand...

he does not make the policy for Barack Obama. His job is not to make political pronouncements. If he wants to be a politician, he should resign his commission and run for office - which is what he wants to do anyway - as soon as he can argue that the "war" has gone in the wrong direction.

[TahitiNut]

5. What's the "military objective"? Petraeus can speak to that, and nothing else.

The political objective is established by the civilian leadership. Period.

[kentuck]

6. Absolutely!

And what the hell is Andrea Mitchell doing in Baghdad in front of the Obama trip?? What's the purpose of her trip? To get the military "opinion"? We don't need their opinions.

[JohnnyRingo]

8. Needless to say...

No military spokesperson will be allowed to give anything other than a peachy rosy wonderland of the situation.
That's understandable I guess, since officers speak for the Pentagon and not themselves, but I suspect they'll obediently tag on a disclaimer that "there's so much more to do, and we can't abandon the mission before we win".

That'll be the political statement coming straight from the Oval Office and the RNC, not the Pentagon.

[boomerbust]

7. This just in...

2 million OBAMA 08 lawn signs ordered by Maliki government.