http://www.taylormarsh.com/archives_view.php?id=26192Bush is in deep trouble. It's not exactly news, but what he's doing to save himself makes our job harder. That's why he's turning to Petraeus to deliver what he wants.
Americans trust military commanders far more than the Bush administration or Congress to bring the war in Iraq to a successful end, and while most favor a withdrawal of American troops beginning next year, they suggested they were open to doing so at a measured pace, according to the latest New York Times/CBS News Poll. ... ..
... Only 5 percent of Americans — a strikingly low number for a sitting president’s handling of such a dominant issue — said they most trusted the Bush administration to resolve the war, the poll found. Asked to choose among the administration, Congress and military commanders, 21 percent said they would most trust Congress and 68 percent expressed most trust in military commanders.
Some Democrats took issue with the characterization of General Petraeus as operating free of influence from the administration, suggesting that they would like to diminish his credibility heading into days of intense sparring over how much more time Mr. Bush’s strategy for Iraq should be given.
“I don’t think he’s an independent evaluator,” Senator Dianne Feinstein, Democrat of California, said on “Fox News Sunday.” A White House spokesman, Tony Fratto, responded sharply, saying, “Attacking him in this way is reprehensible.” ... ..
Americans Feel Military Is Best at Ending the War
That's our challenge. Doing what Congress can't do very well. But attacking the message of a messenger who has a chest full of medals won't be easy. No one relishes it either. However, since Petraeus has chosen to align himself politically with a strategy that is not in our country's best interest, but instead props up a failed president and his strategy that's what we must do. Putting a commander in chief before country is wrong.