Vegas
09-12-2007, 02:33 PM
http://ibdeditorials.com/IBDArticles.aspx?id=274401590183864
Leadership: Watching the political carnival that accompanied the testimony of Gen. David Petraeus was for many a depressing experience. Is this the best our Congress — indeed, our democracy — has to offer?
Say what you will of his testimony, but Petraeus is a genuine hero who's done a terrific job in the most trying circumstances. He deserved respect and the utmost consideration when he went before two House committees on Monday.
Instead, he got condescension and rudeness, with more than one Democratic member implying — to his face — that he was a liar and White House stooge.
We happen to believe Petraeus' report to Congress — a report, let's remember, that Democrats themselves requested earlier this year. It was a masterly, factual recitation of the progress on the ground in Iraq.
It included both good and bad — but was weighted toward gauging the real progress we've made in our war against terrorism. Defenseless against the facts, Democrats responded by trying to trash Petraeus' carefully crafted report — and his reputation.
California's Loretta Sanchez, posturing for the cameras, at one point cited a spurious ABC/BBC Poll that claimed 70% of Iraqis think things have gotten worse, not better, since the surge.
The poll is full of flaws. Yet Sanchez couldn't resist gratuitously insulting Petraeus, basically calling him a liar. "It's an ABC-BBC poll," she said. "They count better than most of our generals count in Iraq, and Gen. Petraeus will know what I mean by that."
Florida Democrat Bob Wexler accused Petraeus of "cherry picking statistics or selectively massaging information." He said Petraeus' testimony was "eerily similar" to Gen. William Westmoreland's assertion in 1967 that "America was making progress in Vietnam."
Utterly clueless, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi issued a press release after Petraeus' remarks, under the headline "Continuing Failed Surge in Iraq Until at Least Next Summer Is Unacceptable."
What? Petraeus essentially said he would remove a quarter of the combat troops by next summer — virtually all the surge forces. Does Pelosi think it can go any faster?
The sad spectacle of our lawmakers' pre-emptive ignorance continued Tuesday in the Senate, where a question by another Californian, Barbara Boxer, went on so long there wasn't time for an answer. Joseph Biden, no stranger to long-winded and pointless questions, asked Petraeus to kindly respond in writing.
The assault on Petraeus has been going on for weeks, as Democrats and their media allies confront their worst fear: that, rather than facing a Vietnam-like "quagmire," the U.S. is winning in Iraq.
The stakes are huge. Admitting they were wrong about Iraq might kill Democrats' chances in 2008. So, where possible, they're letting far-left groups do their heavy-lifting — as with Code Pink's shenanigans, and the full-page Moveon.org ad in Monday's New York Times with the disgraceful headline, "General Petraeus or General Betray Us? Cooking the books for the White House."
Moveon.org has raised millions for Democrats, and seeded its ranks with activists. Not surprisinglly, most Democrats refused to criticize Moveon.org's disgraceful slander of a decorated general who has served his country with valor, honor and distinction.
There's a word for this: cowardice. Or, as one Democratic senator told Politico.com (anonymously, of course): "No one wants to call (Petraeus) a liar on national TV. The expectation is that the outside groups will do this for us."
To all of the attacks and slurs, Petraeus calmly responded with another Democratic bugaboo: the facts. We are presenting those facts in graphic form in both our printed editorial pages and on our Web site at ibdeditorials.com. We hope you'll take a look and decide for yourself who's right — and wrong.
Leadership: Watching the political carnival that accompanied the testimony of Gen. David Petraeus was for many a depressing experience. Is this the best our Congress — indeed, our democracy — has to offer?
Say what you will of his testimony, but Petraeus is a genuine hero who's done a terrific job in the most trying circumstances. He deserved respect and the utmost consideration when he went before two House committees on Monday.
Instead, he got condescension and rudeness, with more than one Democratic member implying — to his face — that he was a liar and White House stooge.
We happen to believe Petraeus' report to Congress — a report, let's remember, that Democrats themselves requested earlier this year. It was a masterly, factual recitation of the progress on the ground in Iraq.
It included both good and bad — but was weighted toward gauging the real progress we've made in our war against terrorism. Defenseless against the facts, Democrats responded by trying to trash Petraeus' carefully crafted report — and his reputation.
California's Loretta Sanchez, posturing for the cameras, at one point cited a spurious ABC/BBC Poll that claimed 70% of Iraqis think things have gotten worse, not better, since the surge.
The poll is full of flaws. Yet Sanchez couldn't resist gratuitously insulting Petraeus, basically calling him a liar. "It's an ABC-BBC poll," she said. "They count better than most of our generals count in Iraq, and Gen. Petraeus will know what I mean by that."
Florida Democrat Bob Wexler accused Petraeus of "cherry picking statistics or selectively massaging information." He said Petraeus' testimony was "eerily similar" to Gen. William Westmoreland's assertion in 1967 that "America was making progress in Vietnam."
Utterly clueless, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi issued a press release after Petraeus' remarks, under the headline "Continuing Failed Surge in Iraq Until at Least Next Summer Is Unacceptable."
What? Petraeus essentially said he would remove a quarter of the combat troops by next summer — virtually all the surge forces. Does Pelosi think it can go any faster?
The sad spectacle of our lawmakers' pre-emptive ignorance continued Tuesday in the Senate, where a question by another Californian, Barbara Boxer, went on so long there wasn't time for an answer. Joseph Biden, no stranger to long-winded and pointless questions, asked Petraeus to kindly respond in writing.
The assault on Petraeus has been going on for weeks, as Democrats and their media allies confront their worst fear: that, rather than facing a Vietnam-like "quagmire," the U.S. is winning in Iraq.
The stakes are huge. Admitting they were wrong about Iraq might kill Democrats' chances in 2008. So, where possible, they're letting far-left groups do their heavy-lifting — as with Code Pink's shenanigans, and the full-page Moveon.org ad in Monday's New York Times with the disgraceful headline, "General Petraeus or General Betray Us? Cooking the books for the White House."
Moveon.org has raised millions for Democrats, and seeded its ranks with activists. Not surprisinglly, most Democrats refused to criticize Moveon.org's disgraceful slander of a decorated general who has served his country with valor, honor and distinction.
There's a word for this: cowardice. Or, as one Democratic senator told Politico.com (anonymously, of course): "No one wants to call (Petraeus) a liar on national TV. The expectation is that the outside groups will do this for us."
To all of the attacks and slurs, Petraeus calmly responded with another Democratic bugaboo: the facts. We are presenting those facts in graphic form in both our printed editorial pages and on our Web site at ibdeditorials.com. We hope you'll take a look and decide for yourself who's right — and wrong.