Trump: ‘Very impressed’ with Petraeus as he weighs top diplomat job

Trump: ‘Very impressed’ with Petraeus as he weighs top diplomat job: Never forget this is the man that burned Bibles in Afghanistan while claiming that protests against the Koran put American lives in danger -not that we condone the burning of Korans, but it would be nice to have a General that honored the sacrifice of our service men and women by refraining from an assault on free expression.

This post was last modified on November 28, 2016

Kip Hooker:

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  • I think all the Patreus naysayers should consider the fact that a general officer at his level issues orders based on the wishes of his boss. POTUS.
    General officers don't have the leeway they had in WW2 or even Korea. Notice how we've gone from winning at all cost to trying to win if we can? Politics. I'm for giving this guy a chance.

    • I've always agreed with how Harry Truman felt about generals, as expressed in this letter about the firing of MacArthur:

      "I didn’t fire him because he was a dumb son of a bitch, although he was, but that’s not against the laws for generals. If it was, half to three-quarters of them would be in jail..."

      • General officers of that era were a different animal than they are today. Mac and Patton are prime examples. Keeping their egos in check was a full time job for the administration. Truman and Roosevelt both had their own people under the tent flap keeping an eye on and reporting what those two were really up to.

        Not so much today. These guys are highly educated and unfortunately very tuned in to and driven by politics. They have leeway to get a certain job done, but ultimately are limited by the will of the current administration. Unlike the Generals of yore, these guys are pretty easily reigned in when needed.

        • I think you have to remember that the U.S. military is first and foremost a giant bureaucracy. A giant bureaucracy with some mighty fine people in it down at the lower levels, but still, just another big bureaucracy. And the people that advance fastest in a bureaucracy are bureaucrats, not the most able. Generals are the people who hit the necessary stops on their upward career paths, kissed the right asses, voiced the right political opinions, and stabbed the right competitors in the back. They aren't necessarily the best soldiers. In fact, being a good soldier would require too much time in the field, away from the Pentagon, to allow a person to make it to general. The best soldiers usually top out at colonel if they're lucky. What these top guys do instead is finagle a ten minute stop in a war zone, as safely as they can arrange it, so they can get their combat badge which is absolutely necessary to make it to the top of this particular bureaucracy. And educated? Bullshit. Yes, they collect their degrees just like academics do, and teachers, because it helps get promotions, but they aren't educated in an old fashioned sense. I can't believe how many dumbass teachers we have nowadays who can barely right a grammatically correct sentence but have Master's degrees!

          • I agree. Like I said, they're driven by politics. They are politicians already. But given his background I feel he's infinitely more qualified then the last two SecsOS we've had.

        • Consider Schwarzkopf during G1. He would have taken Iraq then and there had Bush not stopped him. Unfortunately there was backlash about how many Iraqis were getting hosed down fleeing Kuwait. Bush caved and ordered Norman to tone it down.

  • Not a big Petraeus fan. This is a guy who worked out a scheme for avoiding transparency.

    I want someone who will tell our troops, "Forget fire only if fired upon. Defend yourselves! Fire if you feel you or your comrades are in danger of bodily harm, even if that means firing first."

    Only when our military gets back to killing people and breaking things will they be respected and feared around the world.

    • This man is more concerned with winning PR wars than the real thing. I'm opposed to the wars, but if we are going to have them let's fight them for real, end things and bring everybody home.

  • And don't forget this is the genius who put all our chips on the "winning hearts and minds" strategy, which meant telling our men they couldn't shoot back until they have clearance from the rear echelon and have made double super sure no "innocent" civilian might get hurt in the crossfire.

    • I saw a WW2 photo yesterday I don't ever remember seeing. It was some soldiers dispensing justice to the guards at one of the concentration camps. They were lining them up against a wall and shooting them. They had a fair pile of bodies already. If they did this today they'd be locked up and the key would be thrown away.

      Meanwhile Obama can blow away entire families with impunity using drones.

      • Yeah, the Americans went a little nuts when they saw the railway cars full of emaciated dead bodies. I think that was Dachau. Patton refused to allow any charges even though, technically, it was a war crime. I agree with Patton.

    • I'm so glad this guy wasn't working for Eisenhower when it really mattered. Then again I don't think Ike would have had him.

    • Ppppfffftttttt~ Hey Y'all, can we at least give the man 60 days after the re-counts & Jan. 17 inauguration day before you start bitching? Or are you (like Hillary) having too much fun whining?

      http://www.dictionary.com/browse/whining Proxy Highlight

      Whining definition, to utter a low, usually nasal, complaining cry or sound, as from uneasiness, discontent, peevishness, etc.: The puppies were whining from ...

      • I thought I was bitching about Petraeus. It only turns into a bitch about Trump if he nominates the numbskull to be Secretary of State.

        • {and that was a perfect misdirection btw, kudos. But I went to school too, and bet the farm you've read this book
          The Art Of Lying: How to Make Friends And Influence People}

        • And your whining is solving, what? (could you at least wait til after Jan. 17 to start bitching? Like when he may have some power?) My offer to drive the golf cart (because I'd just embarrass myself if I tried to play) still stands. We can talk about this on the course, but you're starting to sound obsessed in your rants.

          Come on, would you really have been happier if Hillary won?

          • Some people are willing to give the benefit of the doubt to the man that (last time he had power) burned Bibles so as not to offend Reactionary Islam, condemned the free exercise of the 1st Amendment and shared state secrets with his mistress -and I can understand where they are coming from. As for me however; I'm going to fall more into the "fool me twice shame on me" camp as far as this guy goes.

          • Hey, I didn't post this. Kip posted this. I just pointed out that Petraeus was the numbskull who made the rules of engagement that keep getting American boys killed in Afghanistan. Now go yell at Kip.

      • PS if he's that bad after 4 years I'll be FIRST in line to help you elect somebody else in 2020, but this is really starting to sound like the rest of the MSM; bitch, bitch, bitch, bitch. And just what part of YOUR gravy train isn't getting fed? My guy/gal/tsvt Yadda yadda lost so I hate him!

        • My complaint is limited to the General here. I think people do need to make some noise about the picks so that maybe some of it will trickle up to Trump and he won't pick the same insider's that have run everything into the ground. As for me I don't have a gravy train nor do I hate this guy because my guy did not win. I have a set of principles that are built around a love of liberty and free markets. I hope Trump will live up to them.

          • Deal! That mean we'll give him 60 days after Jan.17?

            [edit] and the people usually bitching either have an agenda or they are crying because their guy lost. kinda why our great founder started this site in the first place.

          • You're easier to get pissed @ :P (I sent a couple P-shops that are relevant to your site for use there, hope you got 'em. Yours to use as you see fit, but you really are fun to spat with Ppppffffffttttttt~)