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Pillorying Petraeus
Now that this President has damaged one American tradition, separation of church and state, he is creating conflict over another that goes back to the days of George Washington, the line between civilian and military in policy decisions. Tomorrow Gen. Petraeus will testify before Congress and be vilified by a full-page ad in the New York Times. As grave as the conflict is over what to do next in Iraq is the threat to what soldier-Presidents like Washington and Eisenhower considered vital in American life, keeping the military out of politics.
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3 Responses to “Pillorying Petraeus”
Succinctly and elegantly put, Robert.
To that can be added the breakdown of the mix that goes back to the Revolution of a professional military and a militia (the National Guard). It’s not talked about much as a check and balance, but it is, and has been seriously damaged by the manner of deployment and rotations in this war.
“Presidents like Washington and Eisenhower considered vital in American life, keeping the military out of politics”
Excellent point.
While debates rage about the wisdom of Petraeus appeaing on FOX, you are the first to bring up the question of what is a general doing arguing for a political policy in the first place?
Exactly. Petreus is just a pawn on George Bush’s game of Shoots and Liars.
It only goes to show how sophomoric and clique-infested this Admistration is.