"You know, a lot of folks say, well, what's next, Mr. President? And my answer is, we have come too far in this important theater in this war on terror not to make sure that we succeed. And therefore any further troop reductions will be based upon commanders and conditions. Iraq is important for our security. I will be making decisions based upon success in Iraq.
President Bush harps on this talking point alot, but this time I feel the need to call him out on it.
I'm no Robert Byrd when it comes to the constitution, but it seems to me that the Commander in Chief, aka George W. Bush, should make determinations about U.S. troop levels in Iraq. Getting advice from his military commanders is to be expected, but Bush talks about his decision making process in such a way that it always sounds like General David Petraeus, not the Commander in Chief, ultimately will decide what we're going to do in Iraq.
Besides eroding civilian control of the military, a bedrock of the American political system ingrained in our soldiers' heads from their first day at basic training, Bush's extreme deference to General Petraeus to me reeks of politics. "St. Petraeus" can do no wrong. His favorables are off the charts, probably 40 points above Bush's, and both Republicans and Democrats have demonstrated a willingness to hang on his every word and fawn on him incessantly.
Which isn't to say that he is not super-qualified and doing a great job carrying out his mission, because he is. But I think Bush uses Petraeus's popularity and credibility as political cover to separate himself from the hard decisions that need to be made about the Iraq war. In this way, Petraeus may find himself becoming more and more Colin Powell-esque as the Bush administration looks for a fall guy to help it run out the clock on Iraq."
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