The Petraeus P.R. Agency Strikes Again

In today's New York Times, writers Michael Luo and Jeff Zeleny profile the sometimes-stormy relationship between MoveOn.org and the Democratic Party (and as I've said, the Beltway types like to give MoveOn the back of the hand when it suits them to do so, which is a pretty crappy attitude because, if it weren't for MoveOn and the netroots, the Dems would be a permanent minority party).

Well, anyway, the main topic is (of course) the "General Betray Us" ad that MoveOn ran in the New York Times last week, which the writers described thusly...

Democratic leaders in Congress and presidential campaigns said they winced when they saw the MoveOn advertisement. While they may have agreed with its overall point, that the troop buildup has not worked, several Democratic officials said privately that the advertisement had been counterproductive.

I'm not quite sure how Luo and Zeleny managed to screw that up, but they did (nice photo of Eli Pariser, though).

Yes, the fact that "the splurge" has failed is a big part of the ad. But the point was to call the credibility of Petraeus into question.

What kind of a general (or military person overall) writes an Op-Ed for the Washington Post in September 2004 stating that there is "tangible progress" and "Iraqi leaders are stepping forward," when the reality three years later speaks otherwise in as dramatic a fashion as you can imagine?

Who bases "progress" on statistics that don't include car bombings or whether you're shot in the front of the head (only counts if you're shot in the back of the head)? Who bases "progress" on statistics that show that there have been more American and Iraqi deaths during the last three summer months than in any other summer we've been in Iraq?

And all of this is pointed out in the ad (with considerably more verification here).

And this is saying a lot more than "the troop buildup has not worked." This is saying that we have been lied to and deceived not just by Petraeus, but the Pentagon.

I think "the old gray lady" needs a shot of Red Bull to keep from dozing off again.