Musings on the Petraeus Testimony

Well, in my first sojourn into political commentary, last night's Daily Show rubbed me the wrong way a bit and I've been trying to figure out why -- usually my feelings aren't too far off the ones that Jon Stewart is vocalizing.  I think I've figured it out; while I've got no problem savaging the usual politicians and talking heads, everything I've read about Petraeus makes him look to me like the best kind of person you want in charge of an operation like this, and someone that should be able to give a straight answer about what is going on, and Jon was treating him as just another member of the Bush administration.

On the other hand, a lot of Jon's points made perfect sense -- Petraeus has towed the party line about the progress in the region, even when the situation on the ground has been dubious at best.  I just have a hard time thinking he's being another yes-man, and I think part of that is my tendency to look upon military officers with a certain reverence, at least when I don't have reason to think otherwise.  Even those I disagree with on some issues (like some of the NSDM folks) usually have well-thought out opinions, and I have to admit they have more experience and probably a better perspective on the matters than I do.  And Petraeus is hardly an idiot -- the man has a PhD in International Relations from Princeton, for crying out loud.  On the other hand, his report does seem to conflict with the recent GAO report, and seems a little rose-colored when we hear about that violence every day.

I think the root of the problem comes down to the fact that there is so much ill-will towards this whole mess that it doesn't matter what happens now, the pooch has been well and truly screwed.  The war was a bad move in the first place, and it sounds like decisions were made during the initial phase of the occupation that doomed this project, and they continue to be made on the political side at the very least.  And now, even the best progress that Petraeus can wring out of the situation is cold comfort, and while it may be true that he's made great strides, the man's been hobbled by three years of the war being run as a giant game of whack-a-mole and testbed for whacky neocon political ideas.

I honestly don't know if the situation would be salvageable even if we had 20 more years to spend trying to get the place in a state of semi-normalcy.  The strategy that fighting an insurgency requires is not something that can be won in a few years, really -- it's a long, difficult mess, and one I don't know if the US military is really the best instrument for.  I have sympathy for Petraeus being stuck in a situation with no good answers, and being forced to give an answer that is not going to be well-received no matter what it is, whether it is completely accurate or not.  For his own sake, I hope that he is not acting as an agent of the administration -- that he is his own man, and giving an interpretation of the facts that is as honest as possible.  For all the cynicism I have about the American political process, I want to believe that the military still serves the best interests of the United States, and not the best interests of the Bush administration.