While many of us knew what to expect from the September report by General David Petraeus, who would have expected this to be reported?
Despite Bush’s repeated statements that the report will reflect evaluations by Petraeus and Ryan Crocker, the U.S. ambassador to Iraq, administration officials said it would actually be written by the White House, with inputs from officials throughout the government.
None of this is surprising. Bush has said all along that he would take the advice of his generals on the ground, then proceed to replace them whenever they wandered away from the script. Evidently the Bush gang are so paranoid, they’re not even prepared to allow a paid mouth peace like Petraeus to come up with his own recommendations.
It will be fun to watch the dead enders like Kristol and co. trying to keep a straight face between now and September, as they continue to insist we wait till then before making up our minds as to whether the surge is working.