NPR: Petraeus Report's Outcome 'Practically a Fait Accompli'

Petraeus Report's Outcome 'Practically a Fait Accompli'

Political pundits hate August in D.C. Once Congress leaves Washington, the town slows to a crawl. The one subject that has been keeping the talking heads on their toes, however, is guessing what Gen. David Petraeus will tell Congress in September about the troop surge -- and if that might lead to a quick exit from Iraq.

But why bother? It seems that the Petraeus report will have all the suspense of an episode of Happy Days. NPR's Guy Raz reports that the White House has been working Congress hard to build support for the as-yet-unheard report and head off any opposition to extending the surge -- which is exactly what the White House wants.

Not only that, but NPR's Ron Elving writes in his Watching Washington column that there are concerns that the White House is basically writing the report for the general. Seems that the administration might be worried that the general will be a little too honest and, particularly on the issue of Iraqi politics, might undercut the "good news" on the military front.

Paul Hughes, a retired Army colonel now at the U.S. Institute of Peace, argues in Raz's piece that a report that has the White House's fingerprints all over it is seriously compromised. "For them to be writing this report is going to diminish whatever ground truth that Gen. Petraeus or Ambassador [Ryan] Crocker have put into the reports," he says.

9:47 AM ET | 08-22-2007 | permalink

Comments (Send a comment)

Okay, logically the National Guard and the Reserves will be stressed to the extent that American troop numbers will have to be pulled out of Iraq. I mean, what is the troop level in Iraq? A hundred and some thousand in a country the size of Texas. In Vietnam there were half a million in a country the size of New Hampshire, or thereabouts. That's logical. But for those of you who are aware of the oxymoron "Army Intelligence," you get to doubting logic in all it's forms.

But for the sake of argument: Okay, American troop strength is reduced. What happens next in Iraq? My guess is that Blackwater takes over. As if Blackwater isn't already running much of the show in Iraq, already.

Blackwater is a future look of American military strategy. They are America's French Foreign Legion. Go on Youtube, type in Blackwater. You'll see a lot of interesting videos. Many of them made by Blackwater themselves. I particularly enjoyed the video accompanied by Elvis singing "Mystery Train."

Or check out Terry Gross"s interview of Jeremy Scahill --- .bigbro aka fred call

Interviews: Journalist Scahill Charts the Rise of Blackwater USA
Mar-19-2007, Fresh Air from WHYY
...Journalist Scahill Charts the Rise of Blackwater USA. Blackwater USA is a secretive private army based in North Carolina with a sole owner: Erik Prince, a right-wing Christian...

Sent by fred call | 11:30 AM ET | 08-22-2007

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