Modbert
Daydream Believer
- Sep 2, 2008
- 33,178
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Petraeus Takes On Cheneyism
If you listen closely, you'll hear the majority of Republicans drop their support of him at once. However, he is a man of principle to say the least and I am glad he is speaking out about this.
Gen. David Petraeus, the military hero of the Republican (and even non-Republican) masses and the current leader of U.S. Central Command, cast himself as decidedly outside the Dick Cheney school of counter-terrorism thought on Sunday.
Appearing on Meet the Press, the general made a compelling case against torturing terrorist detainees, saying he found it far more pragmatic and beneficial to stick to methods authorized by the army field manual.
"I have always been on the record, in fact, since 2003, with the concept of living our values. And I think that whenever we've perhaps taken expedient measures, they've turned around and bitten us in the backside. We decided early on, in the 101st airborne division, we just said, we decided to obey the Geneva Conventions...
Petraeus wasn't done there. In another contrast with former Vice President Cheney -- as well as the vast majority of congressional Republicans -- he reiterated his support for closing Gitmo, albeit without a date-specific time frame.
As he noted, Petraeus has held these views for some time, so it's not surprising to hear him say it again. What does stand out is how infrequently he is invoked in the political debate on torture and Gitmo. The Obama administration, after all, has the endorsement of one of the most respected military figures of the modern age on two key policy disputes. And rarely do they or others mention it.
If you listen closely, you'll hear the majority of Republicans drop their support of him at once. However, he is a man of principle to say the least and I am glad he is speaking out about this.