Genius’ of the Day – General David Petraeus & Megyn Kelly

"This cannot be the United States being the air force for Shia militias, or a Shia on Sunni Arab fight". 

With those words spoken Wednesday, retired general David Petraeus warned that the political conditions now in Iraq mean that military intervention would be disastrous because both sides would perceive the United States as favoring one religious faction against another rather than squashing terrorism alone.

Speaking at a foreign policy conference in London, Petraeus told the attendees that the United States should not offer military support unless Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki is able to change political conditions there so that his Shiite-led government is seen as fair and representative throughout the country.

Petraeus’ view of Iraq aligns with that of President Obama who has stated that  any military engagement must be conditioned on a political plan that would form a national unity government aimed at healing long-standing wounds between the clashing sectarian groups. I can only imagine the shock of disbelief that must have run through the entire beings of the wacko right-wing war hawks who had elevated General Petraeus to near sainthood while he was overseeing the Iraq war.

One might risk a thought that war-hawks like Senators John McCain and Lindsey Graham along with former VP (aka “Chicken Hawk”) Cheney might listen to the man they once regarded as one of the “wisest people” they knew. In one of the most ill-timed statements Sen. McCain has ever made he recently called for Obama’s national security team to be fired last week, and suggested Obama should consult with Petraeus. Perfect! What would McCain say now? You already know, right?

Just last night McCain suggested that the United States should “go in, we use airpower, we get some boots on the ground, a few that can identify targets.”  He never even mentioned his former idol Gen. Petraeus. After the tragic loss of almost 4,500 American troops in a disastrous, ill-conceived and unwinnable war, McCain and others like him want to sacrifice the lives of more young Americans.

It’s not often, maybe even never, that I commend Fox News on anything they report but I have to give a tip of the hat to anchor Megyn Kelly who totally destroyed Dick Cheney during an interview on her show last nigh about his track record in Iraq.

Cheney, in his typical troll fashion had penned an article for the Wall Street Journal saying of President Obama that “rarely has a U.S. president been so wrong about so much at the expense of so many,”  Dick Cheney is no Winston Churchill that’s for sure. Megyn Kelly fired back with this barnburner of a question:

"Time and time again, history has proven that you got it wrong as well in Iraq, sir. You said there was no doubt Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction. You said we would be greeted as liberators. You said the insurgency was in its last throes back in 2005, and you said that after our intervention, extremists would have to 'rethink their strategy of jihad.' Now, with almost a trillion dollars spent there, with almost 4,500 American lives lost there, what do you say to those who say you were so wrong about so much at the expense of so many?"

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

Iraq is what it is; what it always has been for thousands of years; and, what it looks to be for the next thousand years. American bombs and missile strikes will only make things worse and invite more terrorist attacks against US interests.

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