Friday, July 2, 2010
"... yes, but the 'generals are disposable' logic can be turned around to suggest Obama has made a mistake in making Petraeus now seem absolutely necessary - and if this has been done for PR's sake, which appears to be the case... after all, isn't the message here that there are so few generals in the US military capable of running a COIN that we we're forced to demote our 'best' general out of CENTCOM?... in that case, it seems to me the table is being set for some serious troubles down the road. Did Obama give Petraeus assurances re withdrawals, troop increases, Eikenberry, putting a muzzle on Biden etc etc? What if he did but Obama backtracks? Or he didn't but Petraeus, now the 'necessary' general whose reputation hangs in the balance, has no choice but to act as if he has the latitude?... Much of the press want to see calling on Petraeus as a clever move by Obama - but seems to me you can just as easily characterize it as an expression of weakness and shallow, short sighted thinking..."