The oh so well regarded General Petraeus writes a letter:
The top U.S. commander in Iraq admonished his troops regarding the results of an Army survey that found that many U.S military personnel there are willing to tolerate some torture of suspects and unwilling to report abuse by comrades.
"This fight depends on securing the population, which must understand that we -- not our enemies -- occupy the moral high ground," Army Gen. David H. Petraeus wrote in an open letter dated May 10 and posted on a military Web site.
Thomas Ricks writing the above says the report was released last week. The casual reader will conclude that the General conquered this high ground pretty fast.
But that isn't so. The Mental Health Advisory Team finished the final version of its report on November 17, 2006. Did it reach Petraeus only last week?
It took nearly six month for the commanding officer in Iraq to stump up to the moral mole hill he now pretends to occupy. Predictably he does so to the opposite effect.
"Seeing a fellow trooper killed by a barbaric enemy can spark frustration, anger, and a desire for immediate revenge," he wrote.
When the General lowers the base line by denigrating the enemy as "barbaric" is that really the moral high ground?
Or is it a further inducement to fight the designated barbarians by all means?
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