Video: Petraeus tells Bayh that, yes, the war is making us safer
posted at 11:16 am on September 12, 2007 by Allahpundit
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Thanks to McQ at QandO for rescuing this from the memory hole. As predicted, the left as well as certain “conservatives of doubt” are feasting on Petraeus’s response to Warner that he doesn’t know if pressing on with the war will make America safer. Graham tried to flesh that out in his own questions but it was Evan Bayh, inexplicably, who invited Petraeus to revisit the subject directly and elaborate. Which he did. Stand back and give those goalposts a wide berth as they now move towards “Well, he should have said that the first time.”
Actually, if you only have a few minutes to watch a clip, skip this one and watch Petraeus on Monday talking about trying to reconcile with the Mahdi Army. It’s exceptionally timely. He and Crocker have been saying all week that the recent fiasco at Karbala, where Mahdi Army troops went haywire and ended up in a gun battle with Iraqi forces that killed 52 people, has been a blow to Sadr’s standing among the Shiites. That explains his newfound interest in purging and reorganizing the JAM — and perhaps also explains this: “The secret dialogue has been going on since at least early 2006, but appeared to yield a tangible result only in the last week — with relative calm in an area of west Baghdad that has been among the capital’s most dangerous sections.”
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There comes a point even in crazy-land that an awareness of “play nice or your land can be turned to glass” begins takes hold.
bbz123 on September 12, 2007 at 11:29 AM
I am sick to death of this question “Are we safer?”
For the love of all things holy, could someone please tell me when we were “safe” to begin with? It sure as hell wasn’t Sept 10, 2001. We have been attacked continuosly over the last 2 decades, 9/11 was just the most successful hit.
redshirt on September 12, 2007 at 11:34 AM
Someone should tell Soltz.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jon-soltz/petraeus-admits-i-dont-_b_63992.html
MSNBC has also been reporting this little white lie all morning.
freedomplow on September 12, 2007 at 11:45 AM
most americans if asked on Sept 10th, 2001 this question, would’ve said yes..
jp on September 12, 2007 at 11:48 AM
jp on September 12, 2007 at 11:48 AM
Yes, I understand that, but in retrospect, we weren’t. So why do people still pretend that we were safer back then by asking the question “Are we safer now?”
And in all honesty, we aren’t “safer” until we deal with Syria and Iran as well. These are dangerous times, and safety is relative.
redshirt on September 12, 2007 at 11:55 AM
You left out Saudi Arabia.
Buford on September 12, 2007 at 12:09 PM
Looks like Evan has learned some new words – “apostate” and “infidels”. What a load of bull (and wishful thinking). It’s the same crap from day one, that Sunnis hate Shias more than they hate US.
What part of the Great Satan do they not understand. When was the last time Sunni jihadis attacked Iran?
Despite the horrible results of the strike on 9/11 – what we should be clear about was their intentions (wet dream).
They wanted to “topple” one tower into another in 1993. How many would they have killed? 200,000? When have they even dreamed about a single attack that would kill a quarter of a million Shias?
Then they tried again on 9/11. Still waiting for the first attack on Iran. Meanwhile A Q Khan (Pakistan Sunni) has gave nuclear weapon technology to Iran.
Agrippa2k on September 12, 2007 at 12:42 PM
I’m with you redshirt, the question should be, “Are they deader?”
I have always disliked people who tell bloggers what to blog about, but….
Do you have video of John Kerry’s questions for Petraeus? He went on about the supposedly false testimony from the generals in ‘67 about Vietnam. I actually laughed since it seems to me that John, “Winter Soldier” Kerry might be more reticent about bringing up lies during Congressional hearings.
Veeshir on September 12, 2007 at 1:28 PM
I love when they try to interrupt him and he calmly continues talking and keeps up his verbal bitchslap on them. Or when they are asking what seems like a 45 minute question and he never looks up at them, like they don’t even exist and takes notes, notes and more notes…then, WHAM!
LtE126 on September 12, 2007 at 1:51 PM
BWT, Obama alwayslooks bad but he really looked bad questioning him. Like he had a feeling he wasn’t going to get a free ride from Patraeus like he has enjoyed his whole life because of his race.
LtE126 on September 12, 2007 at 1:55 PM
Does Bayh always have that smartass look on his face?
Ortzinator on September 12, 2007 at 4:33 PM
Unfortunately, yes he does. Boy, I’m just so proud of the Senators from my state! (not)
At least he didn’t outright insult the General (I hope anyway, I have only seen this clip of Bayh’s questioning).
It’s ridiculous to ask Patraeus to comment on ssomething that it is not his responsibility to make a judgement on, even if his opinion has merit (which it does).
Jezla on September 12, 2007 at 5:19 PM
Am I the only one that wants to take a hammer to that person’s foot in the background?
- The Cat
P.S. Prediction: “They’ll call it a flip flop.”
MirCat on September 12, 2007 at 6:01 PM
Man he is an embarrassment of a Hoosier. Is that a really bad toupe, or just the worst haircut I’ve seen since Dennis (my Mom cuts my hair) Kucinich went to Syria?
Jaibones on September 13, 2007 at 12:26 AM
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