Hot Air » Blog Archive » Video: President Petraeus?

Video: President Petraeus?

posted at 1:15 pm on December 23, 2007 by Allahpundit
Send to a Friend | Share on Facebook | printer-friendly

The party’s hopelessly fractured. In search of a uniter, not a divider, we follow a time-honored American tradition by turning our gaze to the military icon of the moment. Alas, my friends, that gaze is not returned.

It’s just as well. He’s got a lot of work ahead of him in Diyala. Exit question: What’s America’s “Christian leader” going to do when his supporters find out he’s taken money from firms involved in embryonic stem-cell research?

Blowback

Note from Hot Air management: This section is for comments from Hot Air's community of registered readers. Please don't assume that Hot Air management agrees with or otherwise endorses any particular comment just because we let it stand. A reminder: Anyone who fails to comply with our terms of use may lose their posting privilege.

Trackbacks/Pings

Trackback URL

Comments

Comment pages: « 1 [2]

I’d love for each of those backward countries to have one of their own.

Entelechy on December 23, 2007 at 4:52 PM

Exactly. And I have this little seed of optimism and hope that I nurture for all those countries. Right now, all the good possibilities get assassinated. But take the example of the way al Anbar was suddenly, unexpectedly, and summarily taken back from AQ by the Iraqis. These are fiercely proud people who are acutely opposed to domination by other men. Washingtons, Churchhills, Reagans, and Ataturks come along rarely in history. The Middle East is due.

RushBaby on December 23, 2007 at 5:06 PM

they’ll destroy him first if they can.

petefrt on December 23, 2007 at 5:00 PM

I don’t think they’ll get a chance. He turned it down quite convincingly.

RushBaby on December 23, 2007 at 5:12 PM

How does that refute the virtue of economics? The US had an embargo on selling scrap metal to the Japanese. If some American businesses defied the embargo, the blame rests on men who made those decisions. Not on the principles of economics.

RushBaby on December 23, 2007 at 4:48 PM

Economics are like a knife or a gun. No intrinsic virtue or non-virtue.

I think that what my parent’s generation was talking about was before the embargo.

Maybe some day we will have an embargo on the Saudis.

MB4 on December 23, 2007 at 5:12 PM

Maybe some day we will have an embargo on the Saudis.

MB4 on December 23, 2007 at 5:12 PM

And the reason we don’t already is a card held close to the chest by politicians on both sides of the aisle. Permit me to quote you:

- A_Plague_on_Both_Houses

RushBaby on December 23, 2007 at 5:20 PM

Baloney. The KGB was fully behind the Ayatollah. Thats why the current Russian regeme has so many deals with Iran.

I don’t think that the KGB had much to do with the Ayatollah’s taking power.

Do you really believe that the IRanian military has gotten so sophisticated that they produce such effective IEDs to destroy US military vehicles ?

Now you are talking about decades after the Imams took power. No one is saying that the Russians are not “in bed” with them, but I don’t believe that they installed them at all. I think that happened for internal reasons.

Iran was mostly a western built army until the shah left and it fell into weakness.

Not right away. They could have stopped the Imams if they had wanted too. Not much of an army if they could not have.

Now all of a sudden they are effective enough to cause the US such trouble ?

It’s been decades since the Imams took power.

The real truth is the Russian military is using the Iraq war to feild test their equiptment via their Iranian counterparts

That is a different matter from why/how the Imams took power.

William Amos on December 23, 2007 at 4:52 PM

MB4 on December 23, 2007 at 5:24 PM

BillINDC on December 23, 2007 at 3:57 PM

actually, I think generations down the road will reject Islam and move away towards something more compatible, like Christianity.

Islam is ultimately a weak ideology and heresey, its why they resort to violence.

jp on December 23, 2007 at 5:30 PM

the general does have class.

warren1816 on December 23, 2007 at 5:57 PM

Fun to think about, Hillary would sh#t her pants.

But no.

conservnut on December 23, 2007 at 7:23 PM

The guy has a PhD in economics from Princeton, in addition to being a hell of a warrior. He puts Wesley Clark to shame. I would vote for him. Hell, I would work on his campaign

JamesB on December 23, 2007 at 9:33 PM

Islam is ultimately a weak ideology and heresey, its why they resort to violence.

jp on December 23, 2007 at 5:30 PM

That has not been the experience of the Europeans. Muslems hold on to their culture like no others in Europe.

bnelson44 on December 23, 2007 at 9:43 PM

Exit question: What’s America’s “Christian leader” going to do when his supporters find out he’s taken money from firms involved in embryonic stem-cell research?

“Find out”? What makes you think they’ll find out? The media wants him to be our nominee because he’s unelectable, so they aren’t going to try to burn him. Hell, the only reason he’s even in contention is because they put him there. Remember how it wasn’t even a debate that Obama was having his ass kissed by the media? I seem to recall him even admitting that he’d had it pretty easy for a while (and he still has, but negative Hillary stories, etc. have pushed that glaring fact to the back burner a bit). The media made Obama, and they made Huckabee, it’s as simple as that.

So what I’m getting at is, this news won’t really reach the Huckabee supporters who are by and large not the brightest bulbs in the first place. At the risk of sounding like a Paulnut, they’re “sheep”.

RightWinged on December 23, 2007 at 10:01 PM

A General who doesn’t embrace politics when they’re still in uniform like Clark.

Nice.

Seriously, with Clark you could just about sense the political ambition even when he was still in uniform.

Yakko77 on December 23, 2007 at 10:02 PM

General Petraeus is young and still has allot of work to do. This is going to be a longer conflict. The NIE has diffused discussion of Iran for the rest of the year and into next year. There is zero pressure on China or Russia that can be observable in the MSM. Leftist points of view and tactics run unchecked by our so called Law makers and administration.

There is much to do if America is to survive. Petraeus can’t do much as a president as he could as a General. The only problem is will the next president let him?

Egfrow on December 23, 2007 at 10:44 PM

MB4 on December 23, 2007 at 4:12 PM

I think you are getting into a gunfight while only carrying a knife here bud….

TBinSTL on December 23, 2007 at 11:02 PM

I think you are getting into a gunfight while only carrying a knife here bud….

TBinSTL on December 23, 2007 at 11:02 PM

1193.

MB4 on December 23, 2007 at 11:16 PM

TBinSTL,

No so much Russia anymore as it is China even though Russia still has their hands in it. The relationship between North Korea and Iran as well with Syria is very well established. China still calls all the shots for N.K. despite the MSM’s avoidance of the very subject.

Russia is not so much involved in supporting the spread of Islam.

News articles: 1949-1989
* Iran and China (1949-1989).
* Iraq and China (1949-1988)
* Saudi Arabia and China (1949-1989)

Egfrow on December 23, 2007 at 11:24 PM

Here are some links regarding the Soviets and the same countries as above.

* Soviets and Iran 1977-1988.

* Soviets and Iraq 1977-1988

* Saudi Arabia and Soviets 1977-1988

Egfrow on December 23, 2007 at 11:32 PM

MB4, got your 1193 - F.A.U.Commander.

Look at another, and unrelated one - coincidence.

Entelechy on December 24, 2007 at 12:12 AM

I’d vote for him, even if he does quote that SOB Sherman…

Tim Burton on December 24, 2007 at 1:22 AM

Problem is I fail to see what the alternatives are. Appeasing them is out(isolationism) and carpet bombing is a doomsday scenario.

The main objective should be to end oil dependency and bankrupt OPEC. I read a report in a British newspaper about ten years ago saying that the Saudis would run out of oil and be returning to their tents by 2070. Not soon enough.

Also deport Muslims from all Western countries and do everything possible to promote Sunni-Shia conflict in Iraq and everywhere else.

aengus on December 24, 2007 at 9:24 AM

the MB4/Robert Spencer thesis that admonishes at every Muslim who strays from the worst or most orthodox doctrine as a religious hypocrite.

Mohammad admonishes those who stray from the true path of jihad as religious hypocrites so it’s hardly a recent thing cooked up by MB4/Robert Spencer.

aengus on December 24, 2007 at 9:32 AM

Islam is ultimately a weak ideology and heresey, its why they resort to violence.

jp on December 23, 2007 at 5:30 PM

That’s a very interesting statement. Muslims view Christianity as being precisely that: weak.

Why? Because of the freedom of latitude in Christianity. In Islam, you cross the line and you get your hat collection made the most redundant part of your wardrobe. To a Muslim, this is strength: toe the line or die. In Christianity, it’s forgive and forget, turn the other cheek, etc.

And as for “turning to violence,” they are not turning from Islam when they are violent; they are turning with and because of Islam.

It is this very concept of “strength” as they see it that makes Islam as powerful as it is: the consequences of rejection are immediate and dire. Your fellow Muslims enforce the law. In Christianity, most Christians leave your punishment to the Almighty (e.g., “Vengeance is mine.”). So Islam is really like the mafia: once you’re in, you’re in for life (and how long that will last depends on your obedience).

thejackal on December 24, 2007 at 10:46 AM

Typical of the media. They build you up only in hopes of knocking you down.

RobCon on December 25, 2007 at 2:48 PM

Gen. Petraeus is an American patriot. He showed himself to be humble and a class act there.

CP on December 28, 2007 at 10:07 PM

Comment pages: « 1 [2]

You must be logged in to post a comment.