"The idea that General Petraeus and Ambassador Ryan Crocker are front men for
the administration is ludicrous. Until he took the job as overall ground
commander in Iraq, Petraeus was a favorite of liberal journalists: the Princeton
man who enjoyed the company of the media and intellectuals, so much so that he
was vaguely distrusted by other general officers who envied the good ink he
received. As for Crocker, he is a hard-core Arabist, a professional species that
I once wrote a book about: He is the least likely creature on earth to buy into
neoconservative ideas about the Middle East. Neither of these men are identified
with the decision to go to war. If I had to bet, I’d say that Crocker especially
would have been against it, like his other Arabist colleagues. Thus, these men
have no personal stake in proving the president right. They and their staffs are
much more likely to provide a balanced analysis of the reality in Iraq than
senators and congressmen looking over their shoulders at opinion polls and
future elections. As Petraeus said, “I wrote this testimony myself,” meaning,
the White House had nothing to do with it. Watching them brief Congress Monday,
I came away convinced that they made a better impression on the public than
anyone else in the room."
Democrats have gotten to the sad state that all those who disagree with them are stooges of Bush. They can't believe that someone would have an honest opinion about the war that is different than them.
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