Mitchell: Petraeus Held Closed-Door Strategy Meeting With Republican Caucus
Mitchell: Petraeus Held Closed-Door Strategy Meeting With Republican Caucus
NOTE: Andrea Mitchell retracted her statement. Col. Steven Boylan, a US Army spokesman, reports that Petraeus’ briefing was for all members:
If you go back you will see that Andrea Mitchell corrected her mistake as Gen Petraeus did not address the Republican caucus. This was in March of this year and it was an open session to both sides of the aisle and in fact, there were members of the Democratic party in attendance. This was at the request of the Department of Defense to provide an update to leading members of Congress (all sides).
This morning on the Chris Matthews Show, NBC News’ Andrea Mitchell revealed that Gen. David Petraeus, the top U.S. commander in Iraq, met “very recently” with the Senate Republican caucus to discuss their strategy on Iraq legislation.
“Petraeus went to the Republican caucus and told them, I will have real progress to you by August,” Mitchell said. The Republicans claim they told him that after August, they will end their support for the war. “They have told him at a caucus meeting as very, very recently, that if there isn’t progress by August — and real progress means not a day of violence and a day of sanity — that they will pull the plug.”
Watch it:
Stunningly, Mitchell said that “moderate Republican” senators had told her that they didn’t believe the escalation would work but voted for it anyway. “They really are not in favor of the surge. They don’t believe it’s going to work. But they basically said the president has until August, until Labor Day. After that, if it doesn’t work, they’re running.”
UPDATE: Via Atrios, Booman has thoughts on Mitchell’s scoops.
UPDATE II: More at NewsHog.
Transcript:
MITCHELL: I think the Republicans are going to crack. What I’ve been told from inside the moderate center of the Republican caucus is that the vote in favor of the president this week — it was against the president but the Republicans holding for the president — was misleading. That they really are not in favor of the surge. They don’t believe it’s going to work. But they basically said the president has until August, until Labor Day. After that, if it doesn’t work, they’re running.
+++
MITCHELL: They’ll stick until September and then they’ll leave. I believe very firmly that they’re against what he is doing but they feel that General Petraeus has persuaded them that for all intents and purposes, they can’t vote a withdrawal before September.
+++
MITCHELL: Petraeus went to the Republican caucus and told them, I will have real progress to you by August. They told him, if — we’ll stick with you —
KLEIN: I don’t think he did.
Well, I — excuse me…
MATTHEWS: Agree to disagree.
KLEIN: I believe that he did not, and I think that this is a…
MATTHEWS: But the country was led to believe — by the way, the nature of the surge, the word itself is an escalation, suggests a short-term upgrade of the effort.
KLEIN: Counter-insurgency tactics are not a surge. They’re a glacier that takes years to work.
MATTHEWS: Then we were given the wrong labeling here. We have the word surge. Andrea, we got the label from the president himself.
KLEIN: The important thing this isn’t going to work.
MITCHELL: The Republicans were against the surge but they felt it was fait accompli, and that they were willing to give Petraeus until August. He told them there will be real progress by August. They have told him at a caucus meeting as very, very recently, that if there isn’t progress by August — and real progress means not a day of violence and a day of sanity — that they will pull the plug.
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“Petraeus went to the Republican caucus…”
oh my gawd… what the f_???
April 1st, 2007 at 11:42 amdoes this mean what i think it means? what does it mean? i’m confused…
Bush’s bigget failure with Iraq (and there have been many) was in convincing middle-America to give a shit about Iraq. +3,200 American soldiers needed to die so John McCain could hold a news conference behind the security of massive concrete blast walls telling us that things are better because he bought some things at a market?
April 1st, 2007 at 11:44 amThe Republicans were against the surge but they felt it was fait accompli, and that they were willing to give Petraeus until August.
… how many more deaths are they willing to give patraeus? …
April 1st, 2007 at 11:53 am… fait accompli…
wow, she’s so blasé about it!!!!
April 1st, 2007 at 11:54 amDid he also meet with the Democratic causus tell them the same?
April 1st, 2007 at 11:55 amThis is totally unfair. The Dems should of been in on this. The Republican are in the minority not the majority. In August they will have another excuse. We need to bring our Troops home NOW.
April 1st, 2007 at 11:56 amThe Republicans were against the surge but they felt it was fait accompli, and that they were willing to give Petraeus until August.
Fait accompli, meaning that they’re going to vote in lockstep to approve whatever Bush wants approved?
So they’re going to allow 500+ more Americans to die, for what? So Bush can have 6 more months of his War?
And, over the next 20 weeks, some 12,000 Iraqi children, women and men will die.
With the Teri Shiavo case, Congress proved it could act overnight, if it wanted. That was, ostensibley, to save one life.
Why can it not act overnight to save hundreds, or even thousands of lives?
April 1st, 2007 at 11:56 amThat’s the Republics for you. They vote for something they don’t believe in just to toe the line with their Republic brothers. Hopefully this will come back to haunt them in their reelection bids. There is no way Iraq is going to be anything other than what it is today by August. The escalation in Baghdad may be working some, but things are much worse in other parts of Iraq. Will that be a victory for the Republics if Baghdad becomes somewhat safe but the remainder of the country goes up in flames. They really don’t get it and I doubt that they ever will.
April 1st, 2007 at 12:02 pmPetraeus needs to be called into a Congressional committee hearing, sworn in, and questioned — on camera.
He’s a bit too cozy in that bed with the Republican caucus.
April 1st, 2007 at 12:04 pmAnother profile in courage, GOP-style.
April 1st, 2007 at 12:08 pmWow. I don’t know what else to say. They did not believe it would work, the Generals told them it wouldn’t work, it failed three times before, and they still voted to send more troops into harm’s way.
April 1st, 2007 at 12:17 pmAstounding that this information is being made available to the public. Sounds like Republicans are in heavy cover your ass mode. However with each Republican only worrying about themselves, which is the neocon mantra after all, it would seem that the shit is going to hit the fan. Probably sooner than later.
Nobody wants to be the last rat off the ship.
April 1st, 2007 at 12:25 pmWho will be the last soldier to die for the lies?
April 1st, 2007 at 12:27 pmThe Republicans are going to pay very heavily for their lemming-like behavior. By the time the dust settles they might not even have a functioning party left.
April 1st, 2007 at 12:29 pmNobody wants to be the last rat off the ship.
Comment by shane
Yet they will remain rats….
April 1st, 2007 at 12:29 pm#
“Petraeus went to the Republican caucus…â€
oh my gawd… what the f_???
does this mean what i think it means? what does it mean? i’m confused…
Comment by katy — April 1, 2007 @ 11:42 am
Right. Katy–it means that the General understands that he reports to Republicans. Don’t be confused, be pissed. I know I am.
April 1st, 2007 at 12:31 pmSpeaking of rats….we haven’t had a Kristol thread for a couple weeks. Was he the first rat off the ship?
April 1st, 2007 at 12:32 pm[...They knew it was not going to work,but they voted for the 'surge' anyway...]
Of course these politicians are not the ones who are going to die,or get injured…..
It is sad to hear that war became a political game…for some.
April 1st, 2007 at 12:35 pm“Petraeus went to the Republican caucus…â€
Gee I guess need to say what the
F
U
C
C!!!!!
before the comment is posted!
Get over it is it this “What the Fuc#!”
Military leaders are not to mix military and Politics. They are suppose to be netural.
Fire this General now!
April 1st, 2007 at 12:38 pmI see that my earlier post is now posted. It was not there before I post my last comment.
Filters.
April 1st, 2007 at 12:40 pmAnother tidbit I can’t find in US MSM. A German newspaper reports that the Tal Afar bombings took 152 lives. They had to clear away the debris to find all victims. Add the “revenge killings” and this makes for the deadliest attack since the beginning of this illegal war. This surge is really working well for the insurgents.
Do the “moderate” republican senators really need even more blood on their hands?
April 1st, 2007 at 12:41 pm“Apparently blind fealty to Bush and the GOP is the way you show your love for Jesus.” Digby
May the Repuppetcan’s and all the other’s who have been cheerleading this war never rest comfortably again. May you all suffer great losses for the rest of your lives, just like those who died for your “mistakes”.
Gen. “Betrayed-Us” has always been a Repuppetcan tool, an opportunist looking to get hiis 3rd star and take over and then join Fox-is not-News. I didn’t like or trust him when I was at FT. Campbell, and even less when my Brigade took over Mosul in 2004 and saw his “progress”.
Only 5-7% of this country has any relationship with this war so the good Gen., John Insane McCain, and Joe I Lied-berman, can make FALSE statements and get away with it I mean who cares right? Who cares about 5-7 % of the population who’s either fighting or has a relative fighting, and even among that group a little less than half are ignorant “Bushies”.
One day the truth will come out, and those who chose the side of Lies, Deceit, Greed, Treachery, and Hatred…………..oh hell what’s the use. they’ll still be running the country.
Someone help us
RIP
SGT Stephen R. Sherman
C CO 1-5 IN (STRYKER)
KIA 3 Feb 2005
Mosul, Iraq
My Soldier
Or as the POTUS with the help and agreement of the enablers calls him,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,comma #1462
April 1st, 2007 at 12:43 pmSo Karl Rove can use Pentagon brass as his personal emissaries in inter-party poltics? That’s what this amounts to.
April 1st, 2007 at 12:50 pmWhen Bush’s escalation doesn’t work, republicans will blame Bill Clinton, not Bush. Then republicans will switch their blame to Hillary. Republicans will expect the public to buy their connect-the-dots “logic.”
April 1st, 2007 at 12:53 pmThe General had a private meeting with the Republican caucus?
WTF!!!!!!!!
I guess, I somehow believed that he was a general for the entire United States and not that of only Republicans.
My bad.
I guess I had still thought that he was a man of integrity.
April 1st, 2007 at 12:55 pm“Mitchell said that “moderate Republican†senators had told her that they didn’t believe the escalation would work but voted for it anyway.”
Just curious, who does Mitchell consider “moderate Republican senators?”
April 1st, 2007 at 12:59 pmWhat a travesty.
Military members are supposed to conduct themselves in a nonpartisan manner.
That Petraeus THINKS it’s acceptable to meet with the members of only one party, never mind that he actually DID SO, is evidence of his unfitness for command.
He should be fired immediately.
April 1st, 2007 at 1:24 pmI don’t get it. Why are we hearing from Andrea Mitchell?
This cozy relationship with certain members of the press really smacks of a propaganda machine. Why did Petraeus report to the Republicans and why is Andrea Mitchell the spokesperson?
Is this a Republican war?
April 1st, 2007 at 1:26 pmIs this a Republican war?
Yes. Yes it is. Just like the Republican depression coming over the horizon.
April 1st, 2007 at 1:43 pmToo late! Your ship is sinking. Guess there will be a lot of generals to fire too…
April 1st, 2007 at 1:48 pmPlease don’t get mad at me. I’m just doing what the Comander in Chief told me to do. He is Gods chozen after all.
April 1st, 2007 at 1:58 pmThe Democrats in Congress sent a bill up that also allows another year before any withdrawl starts. So four more months is no different, no more time that what Congress wanted. Now if they did what the American people wanted them to do and start withdrawls now, then this would be a bigger story.
April 1st, 2007 at 2:04 pmGeneral Betray-us has been meeting with the republican caucus, eh?
Amazing.
April 1st, 2007 at 2:28 pmWhy am I thinking that come Labor Day, they’ll slap another Friedman on us.
April 1st, 2007 at 2:33 pm[...] Think Progress: This morning on the Chris Matthews Show, NBC News’ Andrea Mitchell revealed that Gen. David [...]
April 1st, 2007 at 2:41 pm[...] ThinkProgress, they’re 4 months out from the day that they’re going to “pull the plug” on [...]
April 1st, 2007 at 2:57 pmWhat a sad, pathletic, selfish,gutless, bunch of lawmakers-a choice between starting to get this country back on track or supporting more death and the idiocy of the worst President in modern history. It’s embarrassing to be an American citizen!!!!
April 1st, 2007 at 3:00 pmWe know that the Federal prosecutors work for the Republican Party, now it appears that the military does as well.
Can anybody tell me the last time a General was sent to bolster support from only the President’s political party?
April 1st, 2007 at 3:01 pmThey aren’t blind. The “surge” was tweaking at the edges of change the course.
Yes, it is too early to be conclusive but we don’t need to wait for Labor Day either. (The following statistics is pulled from icasualities.org web site).
January was before the surge started. February was half-and-half. March is with the surge in place. Lets see what the statistics say.
Iraqi Security Forces and Civilian Deaths
Period Total
Mar-07 1808
Feb-07 1531
Jan-07 1802
Military Fatalities: By Month
Period US UK Other* Total Avg Days
3-2007 80 1 0 81 2.61 31
2-2007 80 3 1 84 3 28
1-2007 83 3 0 86 2.77 31
—————
This doesn’t look like there has been any impact at all. Either way. But then, why should it. After all it is still stay the course. In other words, this is exactly what we should have expected given continuation of stay the course. I think these Republicans are seeing the same thing. “Surge” just kicks the can down the road while another 80 Americans die each month or 400 by Labor Day. Will these 400 have died in vain while these Republicans dither around?
April 1st, 2007 at 3:06 pm#25- “I guess, I somehow believed that he was a general for the entire United States and not that of only Republicans.
My bad.”
Don’t be so hard on yourself – you’re not BAD – you were unsure of the Party prosecuting the war in conjunction with the Executive Branch and the Party who wishes to surrender – those who control the Legislative branch.
April 1st, 2007 at 3:13 pm“Petraeus went to the Republican caucus”
Constitutionally, Petraus shouldn’t be negotiating with the Senate at all — neither with the minority nor the majority. That’s the commander in chief’s job.
It’s a pretty stark commentary on the politicization of the American military that generals now do double duty as White House legislative lobbyists.
That said, it’s pretty obvious why Petraeus was sent to shore up Shrub’s position in the Senate Republican Caucus — it’s the weakest point in the GOP front line. If they cut and run, it will leave the House Republicans with their flank hanging in the air. The rout could become general (so to speak) giving the Dems a veto-proof majority in favor of a withdrawal timetable.
Moral of the story: Never try to fight a two-front war. The German general staff could have told Shrub how well that works.
April 1st, 2007 at 3:20 pmBill Trembles – If it makes you feel any better, some of us are embarrassed you’re an American citizen, too.
April 1st, 2007 at 3:20 pmThat Andrea Mitchell claims that (1) Petraeus “very recently” told the Republican caucus that there would be real progress by August, and (2) Republicans in turn said that if there isn’t such progress they will “pull the plug” on the surge, does not constitute evidence that either of those events actually happened or that those statements were actually made. Andrea Mitchell just isn’t credible. In the wake of the Scooter Libby fiasco, it’s impossible to give her the benefit of the doubt. This is someone who makes stuff up.
April 1st, 2007 at 3:21 pmGen. David Petraeus, the top U.S. commander in Iraq, met “very recently†with the Senate Republican caucus to discuss their strategy on Iraq legislation.
*****My goodness is this not somehow a violation ?How can a General coordinate US military policy to make one party look “good”?Who is this guy working for ?America or the Repuke party ?Folks let all call our gongresspeople to find out.
April 1st, 2007 at 3:23 pm“you were unsure of the Party prosecuting the war in conjunction with the Executive Branch and the Party who wishes to surrender – those who control the Legislative branch.”
Actually, I believe it’s the difference between stupid leaders who wants to keep feeding troops into a pointless stalemate no matter what the strategic cost, and more realistic thinkers who want to retreat, regroup and look for a better way to take the offensive.
I think valiant venus needs to read up on the Battle of Verdun.
April 1st, 2007 at 3:26 pmComment by valiant venus — April 1, 2007 @ 3:13 pm
Got any more “dead daughter” jokes for us, oh Mighty One?
April 1st, 2007 at 3:28 pmTHIS IS WHY THE repugnant-repub rightwingnut crank fudge-pachyderms of the G(rotesquely Ghoulish) O(pportunistic Onanist)
April 1st, 2007 at 3:37 pmP(everted Pedophile) party SHOULD BE KICKED OUT OF CONGRESS COMPLETELY SO THAT DEMOCRATS CAN BRING BACK SOME SANITY AND BRING CHIMPya and his NAZI-FASCIST Bushland Uber Allies TO JUSTICE AND EXECUTE THEM ALL FOR THEIR TREASONOUS HIGH CRIMES AGAINST AMERICA AND THE REST OF THE WORLD!!!!! WHAT A BUNCH OF HYPOCRITICAL LYING CREEPS, TO VOTE FOR A MEASURE THAT THEY KNOW IS NOT GOING TO WORK—-THAT TAKES A LOT OF CHUTZPAH, BRAZEN, COLOSSAL, AUDACIOUS NERVE AND AN UTTER DISREGARD AND MOCKERY OF THE VOTERS WHO PUT THESE CRIMINAL G.O.P. CREEPS IN OFFICE TO BEGIN WITH—GET THE F*CKING HELL OUT OF WASHINGTON, HYPOCRITES!!!!!
Andrea had permission to spill the beans; otherwise, her career would be on the line. (That’s how today’s free press works.) Obviously, the purpose of this “news release†is to give the base the impression that the Republicans are still in charge. Give the surge till Labor Day, and then the all-powerful Republicans will withdraw their glorious support. Defund the war and bring our troops home. All thanks to the most wise Republican Party. However, come Monday morning their hopes and dreams will come crashing down upon them. This was a political blunder to end all blunders. What a bunch of dorks.
April 1st, 2007 at 3:38 pmkaty #1
It means EXACTLY what you think it means…
…the U.S. military leadership…
…serves at the pleasure of the REPULSIVESCUM Party…
…and their TREASONOUS occupying Bushite plutocracy…
…THIS is EXACTLY why I’ve been warning on this board…
…WHY Progressives MUST arm themselves…
…IF Bushiva gives the word…
…the military (in large part)…
…would TURN ON the American people…
…the conned’self-serving racist al Crackkkers in this country…
…HATE American Democracy…
…and THEY are seeking to dismantle the Constitution (and our form of representative democracy)…
…entirely and openly…
…Believe your lying eyes…
April 1st, 2007 at 3:51 pmComment by valiant venus #38
It’s going to be euphoric…
…watching you and your kind suffer…
…make no mistake…
…that time is coming…
April 1st, 2007 at 3:59 pmIt just isn’t as fun being Valiant Venus.
Signed, Mighty Aphrodite.
April 1st, 2007 at 4:15 pmAll right, evidently these Republicans have no concern about the additional troops that will be lost because of this support of the surge!!! These people are idiots!!! They play games with lives, but say that no more war in August if things aren’t turning around. And what was that? They are against the surge!!!! Then why in the hell vote for it if they were against it to begin with!!!! This president deserves no more money and no more lives to play his little war games!!! These stupid Republicans are going to pay the price heavily in 2008-this nation will see Democratic leadership the likes that have never been seen before!!! They will wait til August though!!!! I say send their own flesh and blood over there!!!!!!! At the rate that this war is going that will be close to 200 more people that have to die because of a political deadline!!!! Send their kids over people!!!
April 1st, 2007 at 4:33 pmPetraeus is just another Republican whore who will do whatever the Republicans want him to, including needlessly killing troops, to further his own personal ambition. What kind of new Army is this? I shudder to think of the type of individual who is a General today. It must be like the kind of attorney you need to be to be a Federal Judge to please Rove and company. Theses maggots are eating our country, institution by institution and right by right.
April 1st, 2007 at 4:36 pmIf the general is alleged to have had this meeting, it is improper political action by the general and should be subject to an investigation and potential seperation from the military.
April 1st, 2007 at 4:50 pmWhy the hell didn’t “Betraeus” meet with the Democrats? Just more fascist
April 1st, 2007 at 4:54 pmbehavior going down. And Mrs. “Greedspan” was delivering with her cool casual let-them-eat-cake insincerity. Bush’s Washington stinks like rat infested wet garbage and the Democrats are bringing out the sanitation trucks. In 660 days, the Republican gig is up. Our long national nightmare will be over and Americans will wake up to a new day, a new dawn, where
the people in power don’t actually hate America.
Let’s see if I understand this correctly, the Republic caucus is going to cut and run right after Labor Day… so the Republic caucus has set a deadline and now the terrorist know when US troops will be withdrawing. Now I understand, this has always been about the boy Bush.
April 1st, 2007 at 4:57 pmLet’s all share this movie when the 2008 election comes closer:
http://www.thegroundtruth.net/
We need to keep the Iraq war front and center. Yes, this is a Republican war… started by and supported by Republicans. Americans died because of Republican lies.
April 1st, 2007 at 5:12 pm“…and THEY are seeking to dismantle the Constitution (and our form of representative democracy)…” Comment by Big papa
A question for you – why do Progressives tout their love of “representative democracy” and seek to impose their libertine social agenda on the rest of through the courts?
April 1st, 2007 at 5:14 pmisn’t there something wrong with a defense leader meeting with just one of the major political parties… and for what – to give them information he’s not giving the congressional majority. The republican infestation malignant attack on American integrity is both thorough and disgusting.
April 1st, 2007 at 5:15 pm.
Why do fascist neocons, like vv, like to ignore the courts and the constitution and impose their immoral rules on the rest of us? Why? Why do they want Americans to die for their benefit in a war based on lies without sacrifice on their part? Where do their deadly sins of pride and greed come from?
VV – it is all about you, isn’t it? Pride! Greed! Jealousy! And the lust that you hide in your homophobia.
April 1st, 2007 at 5:21 pmAndrea Mitchell is lying, just like all the other Repulicans Bushies. She wants Chris to think that the Republic Party is still “special”.
April 1st, 2007 at 5:23 pm…seek to impose their libertine social agenda on the rest of through the courts?
Comment by valiant venus #55
…please define:
“libertine social agenda”
April 1st, 2007 at 5:23 pm[...] They’re thinking: “must….get…re-elected.” [...]
April 1st, 2007 at 5:38 pmIs this new news?
April 1st, 2007 at 5:40 pmCan anybody tell me the last time a General was sent to bolster support from only the President’s political party?
Comment by Briseadh_na_faire — April 1, 2007 @ 3:01 pm
I suspect that the rationale is that the (Senate) Republicans were sending a message to the Bush administration by allowing the bill to pass, and be vetoed by Bush. Instead of insisting on a 60 vote margin to both stop debate and to stop passage of the bill. Nevertheless, if Pratraius was sent by the WH to “convince” Republicans to stick with the Bush plan, it’s totally unacceptable. On the other hand, we’ve seen, time and again, the Pentagon and Armed Forces interjected constantly into politics throughout this administration’s time in office. That is the M.O.D. of this group of people. What to stop it? Insist that Dems put impeachment BACK on the table.
April 1st, 2007 at 5:48 pmJournalistic copyediting tip:
Who is “Klein”?
April 1st, 2007 at 6:00 pmI suppose an “intelligent, rational” question…
…is too much for virulent venereal to handle…
…so much for engaging viruses….
April 1st, 2007 at 6:08 pmThis demands a subpoena of Petraeus, Mitchell, and names of what Senators were present, and which were not.
This is FAR more important a matter than what AG Gonzales, Sampson, et al did or did not recall noticing.
Petraeus has some explaining to do.
April 1st, 2007 at 6:37 pmHmmm….the source is Andrea Mitchell on the Chris Matthews Show. Nah, there just COULD NOT be ANY liberal agenda in play.
Who are the unbiased opinion makers behind Think Progress?
-Faiz Shakir is the Research Director for The Progress Report and ThinkProgress.org at the Center for American Progress. Faiz has previously worked as a Research Associate for the Democratic National Committee, and as a Legislative Aide to Senator Bob Graham (D-FL).
-Nico Pitney is the Deputy Research Director for The Progress Report and ThinkProgress.org at the Center for American Progress. Prior to joining the Center, Nico developed web content for the student arm of Gov. Howard Dean’s presidential campaign.
-Amanda Terkel is Assistant Editor for The Progress Report and ThinkProgress.org at the Center for American Progress. Her past positions have been with the Office of Senator Charles E. Schumer and New York State Attorney General Eliot Spitzer.
-Payson Schwin is Assistant Editor for The Progress Report and ThinkProgress.org at the Center for American Progress. Before joining the Center, Payson worked for the campaign to reelect Senator Tom Daschle (D-SD) and the Capitol Hill office of Senator Evan Bayh (D-IN).
April 1st, 2007 at 6:37 pmOh God no…not a timeline!
Damn that Andrea Mitchell for reporting this! The terrorists are loving her now.
April 1st, 2007 at 6:40 pmComment by Unstintingly Independent #65
What’s your point racist, al Crackkker conned’self-serving charlatan so-called Independent?
If you have ANY doubts about what’s going on here…
…you’re a Bushite TRAITOR and don’t really want to be rational…
…You sound like a right wing Bushite al Crackkker TRAITOR….
…therefore you must be one…
April 1st, 2007 at 6:49 pmSo they’re going to allow 500+ more Americans to die, for what? So Bush can have 6 more months of his War?
Comment by Briseadh_na_faire — April 1, 2007 @ 11:56 am
Yes. Why? Because this “war” is the only damned thing Bush has got going for him.
First it was tax cuts. But you can’t run on that for 8 years.
Then it was Social Security reform. That fizzled.
Next it was the dismantling of the nuclear arms treaties that had served this country well for nearly 30 years. Not much movement in that since 9/11.
So what’s left? The “war” on terror. Suppose the “war” in Iraq had been wrapped up in 2 years’ time. Insurgents and terrorists defeated to the point that they were no longer a threat to the coalition nor to Iraqis, and the newly elected Iraqi government on its way to a new future. No more “fighting them over there so we don’t have to fight them over here.” No more “Democrats are friends of the terrorists.” No more “the terrorists win if the Democrats retake Congress.”
So we bring our troops home and maybe leave a small contingent in Iraq to keep an eye on things. After Iraq, where to go next?
Ummmm…wait…I’m thinking. I’ll get back to you on that.
The “war” on terror would have taken a big break. But that just wouldn’t do. Nothing would have satisifed Bush and his cronies (including all the recipients of the no-bid contracts) but to have a full scale occupation and combat operations going on in some country.
April 1st, 2007 at 6:57 pmSome reporter should ask Petraeus if he met the the GOP Senate caucus and follow that up with some tough questions.
April 1st, 2007 at 7:28 pmThis, people, is why Independents such as myself do not look upon the limp-wristed liberal crowd with any favor. The mindless shrieking and vituperative name-calling is infantile and counter productive.
The same can be said about the neo-con demagogue’s.
Please, strip away the blinders of your rabid political ideology and speak honestly.
April 1st, 2007 at 7:44 pmThis, people, is why Independents such as myself do not look upon the limp-wristed liberal crowd with any favor. The mindless shrieking and vituperative name-calling is infantile and counter productive.
The same can be said about the neo-con demagogue’s.
Please, strip away the blinders of your rabid political ideology and speak honestly.
April 1st, 2007 at 7:46 pmATTN Gen Petraeus & GOP “moderates”, if you bed down with a rattlesnake, you will get bit,
April 1st, 2007 at 8:06 pm#14 Verbalkint; the only good Republican is the one that’s dead.
April 1st, 2007 at 8:11 pmIn case anyone is interested, here’s the media contact person for MNF-I/CENTCOM:
Media contact:
April 1st, 2007 at 8:12 pmLt. Col. Josslyn.Aberle@iraq.centcom.mil
Eric and Hmbnancy got it right. Andrea Mitchell is a R shill and Mr. Klein tried to shut her down….
MITCHELL: Petraeus went to the Republican caucus and told them, I will have real progress to you by August. They told him, if — we’ll stick with you —
KLEIN: I don’t think he did.
Well, I — excuse me…
MATTHEWS: Agree to disagree.
KLEIN: I believe that he did not, and I think that this is a…”
This is a made up talking point by someone looking to still be a member of the “credible” press. Remember this “Andrea Mitchell said that polls show the public supports a pardon of Scooter Libby.” If she does not have some scoop, then why would they have her on national teevee? Total fairytale land.
April 1st, 2007 at 8:36 pmPerhaps Petraeus was following orders.
April 1st, 2007 at 8:40 pmWhy is the general allowed to meet with only the republican caucus.
April 1st, 2007 at 8:56 pmThe army belongs to everyone. I find this appalling. And just another
example of why the president is in such a horrible mess.
1. Was he acting as a general of the Military?
April 1st, 2007 at 10:41 pm2. Was he introduced as Mister Petraeus or General?
3. What he did was against the UCMJ,
And he as an officer should step down or get procecuted for violation of the UCMJ. As a general, his being in or out of the uniform has no bearing on the on the circumstance, but his partisian politics does have a bearing.
Of course a general meeting with a political caucus is clearly a case of advanced imperial decay and late stage fascism…
…on the other hand, there is a LOGIC to it… it is the Republicans in Congress… and specifically about 16 of them in the Senate who can join with Democrats to impeach their boss…. and an even smaller number of them who can defund the war effort.
Given the super majorities involved in impeachment, and the fact that authorization for war involves majorities, but congressional deauthorization of a war involves a constitutional struggle and possible impeachment to bring it about…. and given the all but guaranteed Democratic opposition and vote to indict and convict…. the people who STILL hold the cards are not even the Republicans as a whole, but a very small number of Republicans who might wake up and abandon the President and the war….
So he talked to the decision makers that matter…
And I’ll bet the Dems are too chicken to remove him…. and that would be another constitutional powers struggle anyway, which would play very badly for them. So he was probably politically safe…. and politically savvy.
Still it’s pleasantly shocking to imagine that there actually might be some Republicans prepared to abandon the sinking ship of Operation Iraqi Freedom or whatever this imperial disaster is now called.
April 1st, 2007 at 10:42 pm[...] Transcript: (more…) [...]
April 1st, 2007 at 11:06 pmLet’s face the facts folks, the political coup has evolved into a military coup.
April 1st, 2007 at 11:11 pmBecause while most of us want the troops home now, the Republican base still backs Bush and his war.
Note that the GOP Senators gave Petraeus until August to hit benchmarks that we all know simply cannot be hit. The 2008 campaign season starts officially in September. They don’t want to be voting for this war during the regular campaign season, but they also don’t want their base to punish them.
April 1st, 2007 at 11:36 pm#73 – “Verbalkint; the only good Republican is the one that’s dead.”
Comment by Uncle Ho
Hmmmm….Uncle Minh, you have an uncanny resemblance to Josef Stalin..
April 2nd, 2007 at 12:20 am#82 Thought you would like that. Sounded an awful lot like Coulter.
April 2nd, 2007 at 12:39 am[...] Transcript: (more…) [...]
April 2nd, 2007 at 4:29 amThis is a smokescreen by the GOP. So if in August 400 civilians and 8 Americans die, instead of 600 and 20, this will be considered an improvement and the GOP will continue with their Bush worship.
April 2nd, 2007 at 9:06 amSo the GOP senators don’t believe in the surge but are willing to let more American soldiers die and be maimed along with an untold number of Iraqis because they don’t want to alienate their base BEFORE the election campaign starts? AFTER the campaign starts, then it will be O.K. to actually align themselves with the majority of the public?
The Democrats should be all over this. This demonstrates as plain as the nose in the middle of the face that GOPers do not give a hoot about the troops. They are just fodder for their political campaigns.
May them all be run out of office in 2008, and preferably shipped off out of the country so they can no longer do any harm.
April 2nd, 2007 at 10:12 am[...] Please find article, transcript and video here. [...]
April 2nd, 2007 at 11:39 amIt’s a bit breathtaking, the audacity by which the military is becoming politicized here. By chance, did Petraeus wear his uniform? It’s against the regs, you know, for a uniformed member of the military to attend a political event.
April 2nd, 2007 at 1:17 pmGood catch, thank you. This needs to be a huge story. I’m disappointed in Petraeus, because this behavior is shameful.
April 2nd, 2007 at 1:33 pmImpeach now, Impeach often. The whole damn bunch of them HAVE TO GO!
Watch for martial law in the future, as the figurative noose of his failures and criminality tightens around bush’s neck
April 2nd, 2007 at 3:38 pmI submitted the following complaint to the DOD IG.
Dear Thomas E. Gimble,
I request you investigate Gen. David Petraeus for violating regulations prohibiting partisan political activity while in uniform or acting in an official capacity.
NBC’s Andrea Mitchell described Petraeus meeting with the Republican Congressional caucus. From Mitchell’s description it appears Petraeus may have been participating in a meeting that was primarily strategizing for how Congressional Republicans will further their political interests.
Many Americans are suspicious of the motivations of President George W. Bush with respect to Iraq. Many of us suspect Iraq policy is really driven by domestic politics—and has been from the beginning—not reasoned, realistic strategic objectives.
Given this climate, Petraeus probably should have refused to meeting separately with Congressional Republicans.
Sincerely,
Carl Nyberg
April 2nd, 2007 at 3:42 pmUS Navy 85-96
This thread should have been removed it is another TP lie.
Sounds pretty serious. The RS Insider checked with sources on the Hill and in the Defense Department and discovered there are only two problems with the story.
1) General Petraeus did give a Congressional briefing last month – a “video-conference at the Pentagon†– and it was open to Republicans and Democrats.
2) Democrats chose not to attend.
So General Petraeus gave a briefing to the Republican caucus….because Democrats couldn’t be bothered to show up.
Next time, instead of criticizing General Petraeus for briefing Republicans on the war, perhaps liberal bloggers should suggest the Democrats actually attend those briefings.
April 2nd, 2007 at 4:20 pmPatrick1, confirmed by my sources at DoD as well.
April 2nd, 2007 at 4:53 pmCarl, bud, you may want to drop another note to the IG and rescind your last.
April 2nd, 2007 at 4:56 pmSomebody ask General BETRAEUS if he wonders how much of the 380 metric TONS of high-explosives (which Bushco failed to guard at Al-Qaqaa) will blow up our soldiers in the months of his ’significant progress.’
What’s he going to do? Ask for people to turn those explosives in?
A truck with 4,000 pounds of explosives just blew up. WHERE do you get two tons of explosives?
From George “Can’t be bothered to go to work” Bush, that’s who.
General Betraeus already has.
April 2nd, 2007 at 5:33 pmDemocrats chose not to attend the briefing? HILARIOUS.
Betraeus was meeting with the Republicans in order to offer assistance in their legislative blocking of Democratic legislation. If you really think Dems were invited, then you have a head as thick as your C-in-C.
April 2nd, 2007 at 5:35 pmThis, people, is why Independents such as myself do not look upon the limp-wristed liberal crowd with any favor. The mindless shrieking and vituperative name-calling is infantile and counter productive.
Comment by Unstintingly Independent #74
This people is why so-called “Independents”…
…are nothing more than TREASONOUS right wing Bushite worshippers in sheeps clothing…
…You voted for these incompetent criminals TWICE, now see how fu*ked up his criminal cabal is, but can’t bring your al Crackkker racist, homophobic, misogynist ass to see the light…
…YOU HATE Democracy and Diversity…
…you’re about as “Independent” as Scooter Libby, Karl Rove, Scum Vanity and ALL of the other Bush worshipping TRAITORS…
…your post in #69 shows clearly what side of the political spectrum you’re on…
…so copulate you and ALL your “Independent” family, friends, neighbors and co-workers…
April 2nd, 2007 at 8:02 pm[...] has until August, until Labor Day. After that, if it doesn’t work, they’re running.†Click here to watch the video, courtesy of [...]
April 2nd, 2007 at 8:31 pmThe Dhimmies chose not to attend.
Figures. You guys win the election and what happens? Within six months: it’s Clydesville already. The Pelosi Congress is already more unpopular than Bush.
That’s right. Your Dhimmitude Congressmen couldn’t be bothered to show up for General Petreaus. There was no Rovian Plot.
April 2nd, 2007 at 8:36 pm[...] highlights a strange moment on tonight’s Hardball: “Without mentioning what had been discussed on Sunday, Matthews asked Mitchell, rather out of the blue, to talk about what Petraeus was telling [...]
April 2nd, 2007 at 10:15 pmY’know what…that’s just the last straw for me. If they really (Repub’s) voted for this knowing that it wouldn’t work so they could string it out until August before they claim they “knew it all along” (leaving a good five month buffer to spin some other BS before the primaries next year) they should be HUNG!! I don’t mean in a political sense, I mean it in a literal, rope around the neck, broken vertebrae, twitching, shaking, bowels spilled on the ground sense. ESPECIALLY John McCain. Has he forgotten what Hanoi was like? Obviously yes. I’m normally anti-death penalty but I do think that politics got a lot shadier when we took out the hanging.
April 2nd, 2007 at 11:01 pmFor every day this surge “just didn’t work” some mother(s) and father(s) had to give up the little baby they kissed on the head and put to bed at night, their precious child gone and their lives FOREVER RUINED for political posturing!!! To prolong for six more months a strategy that was doomed before it started. Have you ever smelled a six month old baby when you carried their sleeping little body into their room and put them in their crib? If you have, then you know the joy and absolutely pure love that comes in doing that. Now picture that little baby shredded like hamburger meat and ask yourself if this is worth that? I mean for YOUR baby, not someone else’s.
And where is AMERICA?! Watching Anna Nicole coverage, eating cheeseburgers and watching American Idol?! If the answer is yes, than we deserve everything we get. When did we become a nation that would sell our souls out to criminals as long as we didn’t have to get up off the couch? That’s not the attitude that built America, that’s the attitude that brought down Rome. I’ll tell you something else, Henry Waxman is a HERO and so are a lot of the rest of the people in the new congress. I was once a Republican and am now independent because this administration has gone WAY too far! All you have to do is take off your red state goggles and read a little bit to see that. They’re even losing the Southern Christian support now. I guess if you claim to believe in the bible and then doing EVERYTHING the exact opposite of what the bible says for six years, eventually people really do start to wake up. I only hope it’s not too late, we risk becoming an entire nation of Sophocles if it’s not. God blessed America, so let’s take it back…for him, for us and for our kids.
august was a date from an earlier timeline they published… wait a moment… this is from january:
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2007/01/14/MNG1TNIE221.DTL
“the White House hopes the troop buildup then will succeed in bringing enough stability to Baghdad by August that U.S. forces can withdraw to the city outskirts. ‘By the end of the year, Baghdad’s got to look significantly different,’ said a National Security Council official not authorized to speak on the record.”
this isn’t a new date, so probably there’s new pressure from the newly shrill rabble to get off the pot.
April 3rd, 2007 at 12:04 am[...] Mitchell: Petraeus Held Closed-Door Strategy Meeting With Republican Caucus [Sunday] morning on the Chris Matthews Show, NBC News’ Andrea Mitchell revealed that Gen. David Petraeus, the top U.S. commander in Iraq, met “very recently†with the Senate Republican caucus to discuss their strategy on Iraq legislation. “Petraeus went to the Republican caucus and told them, I will have real progress to you by August,†Mitchell said. The Republicans claim they told him that after August, they will end their support for the war. “They have told him at a caucus meeting as very, very recently, that if there isn’t progress by August — and real progress means not a day of violence and a day of sanity — that they will pull the plug.†[...]
April 3rd, 2007 at 7:06 am[...] 3rd, 2007 As Charles noted the other day, even as they bash Democrats for demanding a timeline, they’ve already met secretly with General Petraeus, according to Andrea Mitchell, to tell him that unless there’s significant improvement in Iraq by this August — which [...]
April 3rd, 2007 at 11:13 am[...] on “The Chris Matthews Show” on Sunday, Mitchell asserted that Gen. David Petraeus held a private meeting with the Republican caucus to discuss Iraq. In the context in which she said it, Mitchell portrayed [...]
April 3rd, 2007 at 3:56 pmNice. Too bad you absolutely got your facts wrong. Democrats were invited to the teleconference. They chose not to attend. I guess ‘truthy’ is good enough though.
April 3rd, 2007 at 4:22 pmRe Shane (#12):
“Nobody wants to be the last rat off the ship.”
Nobody “wants” to be the first rat off the ship, either. Individual disloyalty to this admin has been a political death sentence. They’ll try to go as a pack of rats. Safety in numbers.
April 3rd, 2007 at 6:54 pmIt’s a f*cking political game for them. If it succeeds, hoorah for the conservanazis. If it fails, f*ck the Dems. No, wait, blame the troops? NO, wait, don’t blame bu$h.
Gen. Betrayous should be marched out, stipped of his medals and let’s watch him give that blowjob in public instead of in the conservanazi republikan caucus.
What does Betrayous want? 6 stars. WTF! The rotten nazi bastards are playing games to make themselves look good.
How f*cking sick is t his.
April 4th, 2007 at 9:21 pm[...] Petraeus Held Closed-Door Strategy Meeting With Republican Caucus (from pseudo-manitou’s weekday news [...]
April 8th, 2007 at 7:25 pmThe Iraq Parliment will have concluded the signing of the Iraq Hydrocarbon Law by then, & the Profit Sharing Agreements (PSAs) can be divied-up amongst the multinational BigOil fatkatz.
75% of production profit for fatkatz : 25% of the production profit to Iraq.
Such a PNAC deal!
Operation Iraqi Liberation=O.I.L.=Oil Israel Logistics
May 1st, 2007 at 7:22 pmHow did our oil get beneath their sand?