"I don't know, actually."

p m carpenter

As it turned out, there was some educational value in Gen. David Petraeus' testimony before Congress and the American people after all.

It seems he doesn't believe in his mission.

When asked yesterday by Republican Sen. John Warner if all the expense in American lives and treasure is "making America safer" -- which is, of course, presupposed as the objective of any military mission -- the general first hummed, hawed and outright dodged the question by musing about his current focus on "achiev[ing] our objectives in Iraq."

Undeterred, the senator put it to the general again: But is it making America safer?

To which the general said: "Sir, I don't know, actually."

With that, Petraeus not only wandered off the reservation, he bolted. One could almost hear the sundry and panicked hearts being clutched in the White House. The mask was off their #1 guy; their p.r. extravaganza was now a bare-faced debacle.

The Nation

Did General David Petraeus today suggest that the war in Iraq may not make the United States safer?

Petraeus replied, "I don't know, actually. I have not sat down and sorted in my own mind."

Don't know? Is it possible that the war is not making the United States safer? Petraeus went on to note that he has "taken into account" the war's impact on the U.S. military and that it's his job to recommend to the president the best course for reaching "the objectives of the policy" in Iraq. Yet he did not say that the Iraq war is essential to the national security of the United States. Warner did not press the general any further on this point. The senator's time was up.

That was quite a statement from the fellow who is supposed to save Bush's war. He advocates pursuing Bush's course of action in Iraq but he cannot attest that this effort is crucial for America's safety. Is that being a good soldier?

If he's nothing else, General Petraeus is a good soldier. Soldiers follow orders, whether they like them or not, for good or for ill. Petraeus has been ordered to put lipstick on Bush's pig and he's doing it rather well.

When pressed, a good soldier will tell the truth, even when it puts a tiny crack in the propaganda he's been ordered to spew in support of his masters' delusions. A worse hack would have answered the question with a slightly different 'four words': "Of course it is!"

I've seen the massive rear fender on a Harley-Davidson fall off because a tiny, nearly invisible crack was left unchecked and allowed to propagate.

It remains to be seen what will happen because of Petraeus' comment, but some of the pundits have already picked it up and are trying to run with it. I can only imagine that the Chimp ain't none too happy about this and will do his best to 'stop-drill' it, something along the lines of, "The general fights wars and does my military bidding. I'll tell you when you're safe."

I hope the crack spreads and Bush's ass falls off and gets drop-kicked through the goalpost of truth.

I may have just set a new standard for mixed metaphors with a motorcycle/sports/Bush's ass one. Heh.