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Petraeus's New Offensive: Preparing the Way for Obama to Retract the Withdrawal Pledge
Aug 17, 2010
General David Petraeus is in the midst of his Afghanistan offensive.
But it's not against the Taliban; it's against those in Congress, and
those of us in the public, who oppose the ongoing-and escalating-Afghan
war.
Petraeus is preparing the battlefield for next summer, when President
Obama is on record as saying the withdrawal from Afghanistan will
commence.
Petraeus announced very publicly over the weekend that he didn't take
the job as top general in Afghanistan to preside over "a graceful
exit," and he affirmed that he may advise Obama to delay the withdrawal.
Some in the media claim Petraeus is trying to strengthen his position
against those in the Administration who want to greatly reduce the U.S.
military presence in Afghanistan.
But I'm not buying that.
I believe Petraeus is doing what his commander in chief wants him to do.
Look, if Obama didn't want Petraeus popping up all over the weekend
talk shows and sitting down with the New York Times, he would have
ordered the general back to Afghanistan.
But for the White House, something was more important than the upcoming assault on Kandahar.
And that's to give Obama room to retreat from his pledge last December.
And even that pledge was hedged like a French garden: "We will
execute this transition responsibly, taking into account conditions on
the ground," he said at the time.
Watch for those words "conditions on the ground" to come around again next July.
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Matt Rothschild
Matt Rothschild is the executive director of the Wisconsin Democracy Campaign. Prior to joining the Democracy Campaign at the start of 2015, Matt worked at The Progressive Magazine for 32 years. For most of those, he was the editor and publisher of The Progressive.
General David Petraeus is in the midst of his Afghanistan offensive.
But it's not against the Taliban; it's against those in Congress, and
those of us in the public, who oppose the ongoing-and escalating-Afghan
war.
Petraeus is preparing the battlefield for next summer, when President
Obama is on record as saying the withdrawal from Afghanistan will
commence.
Petraeus announced very publicly over the weekend that he didn't take
the job as top general in Afghanistan to preside over "a graceful
exit," and he affirmed that he may advise Obama to delay the withdrawal.
Some in the media claim Petraeus is trying to strengthen his position
against those in the Administration who want to greatly reduce the U.S.
military presence in Afghanistan.
But I'm not buying that.
I believe Petraeus is doing what his commander in chief wants him to do.
Look, if Obama didn't want Petraeus popping up all over the weekend
talk shows and sitting down with the New York Times, he would have
ordered the general back to Afghanistan.
But for the White House, something was more important than the upcoming assault on Kandahar.
And that's to give Obama room to retreat from his pledge last December.
And even that pledge was hedged like a French garden: "We will
execute this transition responsibly, taking into account conditions on
the ground," he said at the time.
Watch for those words "conditions on the ground" to come around again next July.
Matt Rothschild
Matt Rothschild is the executive director of the Wisconsin Democracy Campaign. Prior to joining the Democracy Campaign at the start of 2015, Matt worked at The Progressive Magazine for 32 years. For most of those, he was the editor and publisher of The Progressive.
General David Petraeus is in the midst of his Afghanistan offensive.
But it's not against the Taliban; it's against those in Congress, and
those of us in the public, who oppose the ongoing-and escalating-Afghan
war.
Petraeus is preparing the battlefield for next summer, when President
Obama is on record as saying the withdrawal from Afghanistan will
commence.
Petraeus announced very publicly over the weekend that he didn't take
the job as top general in Afghanistan to preside over "a graceful
exit," and he affirmed that he may advise Obama to delay the withdrawal.
Some in the media claim Petraeus is trying to strengthen his position
against those in the Administration who want to greatly reduce the U.S.
military presence in Afghanistan.
But I'm not buying that.
I believe Petraeus is doing what his commander in chief wants him to do.
Look, if Obama didn't want Petraeus popping up all over the weekend
talk shows and sitting down with the New York Times, he would have
ordered the general back to Afghanistan.
But for the White House, something was more important than the upcoming assault on Kandahar.
And that's to give Obama room to retreat from his pledge last December.
And even that pledge was hedged like a French garden: "We will
execute this transition responsibly, taking into account conditions on
the ground," he said at the time.
Watch for those words "conditions on the ground" to come around again next July.
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