The Petraeus Deception
While we all sit around waiting for General Petraeus to come up with his report on the effectiveness of the “surge” strategy, we learn that perhaps what we have been told is different than what we should expect.

As it turns out, the word making the rounds is that it is not General Petraeus who is going to furnish the report, it is the White House, which is quite different than what we were led to believe.

This was explained yesterday by a White House spokesperson who reminded us that it was Congress who wanted a report from the president; and the president is the one who is going to respond.

While General Petraeus has said that he is hoping for a reduction in troops over the next six months, it is highly unlikely now that we shall hear his precise words which we must conclude will now be shaped, edited, and mined for its political value.

This is another case of being told one thing but having to live another.
This practice has been virtually the modus operandi of this government over the last seven years if you were listening closely enough.

One must believe that General Petraeus must now feel like a man between a rock and a hard place. If he tells the truth, he may lose his job. If he develops a plan that the president does not like, one can almost guarantee it will be changed. Either way, he cannot win. If the plan pleases the president and it does not work, it will be his head. If he totally modifies the plan, and the president doesn’t like it, it could still be his head.

What irks we the public the most, is that Bush has harped on this being Petraeus’ Plan.
In everything Bush has said and done, it was made clear that this was going to be the report of the general on the front line of command. Now, we know that that isn’t going to be the case. That General Petraeus is being used as a pawn as everyone else associated with the White House. You are either in the Inner Circle that Bush trusts, or you are one of his pawns.

It’s a damned deceitful way to run the government.

Most of all, I think it does considerable damage to the Repubican Conservatives who have continued to back Bush predicated on the results of Petraeus’ reports; now, they know that they’ve been had, too. For them it must be the ultimate betrayal that will mean that they will have to go back to their constituents and try to explain that they were deceived by the leader of their own party.

Too bad. They must have forgotten the old adage: When you lie down with dogs, you wake up with fleas!

Les Aaron
The Armchair Curmudgeon
Author of A Blueprint for Winning and Final Warning….