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Gen. David H. Petraeus, the outgoing commander of U.S. forces in Iraq and the incoming commander of U.S. forces in the Middle East, has issued his first statement on a withdrawal timetable since Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki endorsed a 2010 pullout. It’s a no, he tells McClatchy’s Nancy Youssef:
The top U.S. military commander in Iraq isn’t buying the increasingly popular idea of a publicly stated timetable for American troop withdrawal.
Gen. David Petraeus, the Iraq commander, said in an interview with McClatchy that the situation in Iraq is too volatile to "project out, and to then try to plant a flag on, a particular date."
With violence at its lowest levels of the war, politicians in both the United States and Iraq are getting behind the idea of a departure timetable. Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama was first, suggesting he would have combat troops home within 16 months of Inauguration Day. The idea got a big boost during his overseas trip, when Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al Maliki indicated support for that general timeline.
This is pretty surprising. For Petraeus to even appear to contradict Maliki on an issue as important to the Iraqi people as withdrawal is to geld the Iraqi prime minister and the Iraqi political process entirely. It’s no surprise that Petraeus wants maximum freedom of action in Iraq, but what Iraqis are going to hear from this interview is that it’s pointless to elect leaders who aren’t stooges of the U.S. occupation. It’s a short step from there to believing that the political process itself is pointless, a game rigged by the Americans to subjugate Iraq to endless foreign domination. For instance:
Petraeus has said he believes there will be a "long-term partnership" in which the U.S. acts primarily in an advisory role to Iraqi forces, but with enough combat power to step in and help if major battles erupt. But he said that that like most things in Iraq, plans could change.
"We know where we are trying to go. We know how we think we need to try to get there with our Iraqi partners and increasingly with them in the lead and shouldering more of the burden as they are," Petraeus said.
That will sound a lot like there is little Iraqis can do to get from out under the U.S.’s thumb.
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I fear Pet. is where he is at this particular time because he will do anything, anything his boss tells him to do, whether he’s inconsistent, whether what he does makes good sense, whatever. He appears to be a chameleon. The smile he shared with Obama on that copter was done in this vein. Cheap and reflective of what the recipient wished to see.
mmmmmm I think I smell the aroma of Truman and McArthur in the morning air if Obama becomes CIC and Petreus doesn’t resign.
They still raise White Horses, don’t they?
“That will sound a lot like there is little Iraqis can do to get from out under the U.S.’s thumb.”
Oh there’s plenty Iraqis can do. The problem is it will involve more exploding people. Steve Gilliard hit the nail on the head years ago with A Fighting Retreat and Failure Is An Option.
If I had the time, I’d also dig up his excellent piece on how the Green Zone is a difficult place to escape (the intertubes seem to have decided they can’t search his site right now). It’s frightening.
Chosin 2 is also quite good.
No matter how good a COIN tactician he may be, Petraeus appears to cleave to the McCain-Neoconservative ethos that Iraqi opinions don’t matter, that we broke it so we own it. He always has – which is why I opposed his appointment to CentCom when even a goodly number of my liberal Iraq-watching blog pals were favorable. Petraeus, in the long run, will be more a part of the problem than a part of the solution.
Regards, C
As Obama said, Petreus is a warrior, and wants all the elbow room he can weasel out of US politicians.
This besides having become a tool of this US administration…and echoing it’s talking points!
I hope that Obama made it clear to him on their little helicopter trip that if he was the “new boss”, HE would be setting the agenda, and the good general would be obeying his Commander In Chief…
No more of this BS about “listening the the generals on the ground” that little bushie boy has been pedaling, and no more hiding behind Petreus’s petticoats…the Commander in Chief sets the rules, and the general better get in line fast after the election!