https://hotair.com/headlines/archives/2012/11/28/dont-let-petraeuss-scandal-obscure-his-achievements/feed/HotAir is the leading conservative blog for breaking news and commentary covering the Biden administration, politics, media, culture, and current elections.en-usTue, 09 Jun 2026 04:33:38 -0400<![CDATA[• As Petraeus himself argues, it is crucial that any leader “get the big idea right” — and in Iraq in particular, he surely did, after his predecessors had not. His focus on the need to get troops out of big bases and into the cities and towns of Iraq, where they could patrol the streets, gain the confidence of the population, collect accurate intelligence, protect the citizenry and work with local community leaders as well as security personnel was clearly vindicated. He did have kindred spirits within the military who also supported this concept, to be sure. But they were not that numerous. Neither the joint chiefs of staff as a group nor even Secretary of Defense Robert Gates were initially inclined to support, resource and sustain the radical change in strategy.]]>Wed, 28 Nov 2012 21:00:05 -0500<![CDATA[Allahpundit]]>https://hotair.com/headlines/2012/11/28/dont-let-petraeuss-scandal-obscure-his-achievements-n97854