General Petraeus and Secretary of State Colin Powell

Is there a comparison here?
by Charlie Leck

The TV was on in the background during the testimony of General Petraeus before Congress last week. I sat down in front of it occasionally and took in the general, watching his eyes, his chin, his lips and his hand gestures. My impression was good. He's a bright, talented and straight-forward guy. I said to myself: "No way he'd carry the water for a guy like George W… no way!"

Go back to the performance of Secretary of State Colin Powell before the United Nations 5 years ago. I was a big Powell guy and thought he might even make an outstanding President. He had those steady eyes and straight-forward way. He could be trusted. He'd never carry the water for George W… no way!

This is what bother's be about the Petraeus testimony. How do we know? It's so easy to be duped.

I wanted some Congressperson or Senator to have the guts to ask him – right out: "General, don't you think this was in its inception the dumbest damned war in the history of mankind?"

Why didn't we get to the essential questions? "General, doesn't it look like a cage full of idiots planned this war and the occupation of Iraq?"

The closest we came to an essential question was asked by Senator John Warner when he queried whether the war was making us safer.

"Sir, I don't know, actually!"

That undermined the Bush rationale quite significantly. The general just didn't know if all this effort, this money and these lost lives was making us any safer. The Bush line has been that it is better to fight them over there. Better for whom, Mr. President? Better for the little children of Iraq? Better for the families who are now homeless? Better for our general image around the world?

I fear that General Petraeus was fronting for President Bush. I sure didn't see any signs of it; yet I fear it anyway. Colin Powell was fed misinformation before his speech to the United Nations. Was Petraeus similarly treated before he testified before Congress?

On this one, don't expect the newspapers to give you hard hitting opinion on the General's testimony. This is a time to hit the blogs. You should have all your favorite and trust worthy blogs bookmarked so you can turn right to them. You'll get better information from Slate.Com and Salon.Com then you'll find in the best newspapers in the country.

Here are some of the Blogs I like to check out occasionally:

Michelle Malkin

The Huffington Post

Classically Liberal

Daily Kos

America Blog

Andrew Sullivan

Swampland (Joe Klein)

The Big Question (Star-Tribune)

Blog of the Moderate Left

Media Matters

Russ Douthat at the Atlantic.Com (unfortunately you need a subscription to this one)