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| Iraq |
| David Petraeus to Outline Progress in Iraq |
| 2007-02-26 |
| This is from an email from Ronald Kessler of NewsMax, not yet posted at NewsMax. It should prove interesting to watch the media twist and turn in reporting his reports! In coming weeks, Lt. Gen. David H. Petraeus plans to make television appearances to report progress on the ground in Iraq. Petraeus’ predecessor as commander of U.S. forces in Iraq, Gen. George Casey, was reluctant to go on TV, and that attitude filtered down to commanders below him. The Princeton-educated Petraeus, 54, sees the benefits of explaining directly to the American people what he sees happening in Iraq, and he suggested that he make himself available to the media. Once he begins his reports, Petraeus is expected to give regular updates. Petraeus’ assessment is likely to be given added weight because he has been candid about the gravity of the situation in Iraq. Upon taking command on Feb. 10, he warned that, if American and Iraqi forces did not work together, Iraq was “doomed to continued violence and civil strife.” While he believes the effort can succeed, he then said, “The situation in Iraq is dire. The stakes are high. There are no easy choices. The way ahead will be very hard.” Petraeus’ candor has even extended to publicly listing what he sees as assumptions that turned out to be wrong and “mistakes . . . made by both political and military leaders during the course of Operation Iraqi Freedom.” At President Bush’s press conferences, the media constantly demand that he list mistakes in Iraq. But the media virtually ignored Petraeus’ devastating analysis, delivered in an 11,269-word written response to questions posed by the Senate Armed Services Committee. While UPI ran a complete story, only the Washington Post and the Los Angeles Times mentioned Petraeus’ Jan. 23 written statement, running snippets inside their papers. |
| Posted by:Sherry |
| #1 Best defense is a good offense. |
| Posted by: doc 2007-02-26 17:55 |