Betray-Us

Hollywood producer Jon Robin Baitz knows good theatre when he sees it. And he liked the General Betray-Us ad:

I rather liked the MoveOn ad from the Times. It was crass, but these are crass times. It was simplistic, but these are simplistic problems, basic ones -- after all -- the American people have been treated as foolish consumers of a product -- in this case a war -- by an administration that hovers in a bipolar helix between hapless fervor and rank cynicism. Depending on the day . . . I liked the ad because it was cheap and street, and true in spirit.

And contrary to all the hype, The Man Called Petraeus (in Digby's memorable phrase) has apparently been described by his own boss as "an ass-kissing little chickenshit". Ouch!
Apparently CENTCOM commander Admiral Fallon and General Petraeus hate each other's guts. This explains the bizarre story from last week about how the Pentagon had agreed to disagree on Iraq. And may also explain why Bush was so quick to announce he would bring 30,000 US troops home next summer (which means, in reality, that he is leaving 130,000 US troops in Iraq indefinitely) -- Bush didn't want to wait for Fallon's recommendation that three-quarters of the US troops leave Iraq by 2009.
Petraeus may find he has won the battle, but lost the war.