Tuesday, September 11, 2007
Petraeus thought balloon
I like to think that while General David Petraeus was testifying before the Congress, he was actually thinking this, or something like it:
In every circle, and truly, at every table, there are people who lead armies into Macedonia; who know where the camp ought to be placed; what posts ought to be occupied by troops; when and through what pass that territory should be entered; where magazines should be formed; how provisions should be conveyed by land and sea; and when it is proper to engage the enemy, when to lie quiet and they not only determine what is best to be done, but if any thing is done in any other manner than what they have pointed out, they arraign the consul, as if he were on trial before them. These are great impediments to those who have the management of affairs; for every one cannot encounter injurious reports with the same constancy and firmness of mind as Fabius did, who chose to let his own ability be questioned through the folly of the people, rather than to mismanage the public business with a high reputation.
I am not one of those who think that commanders ought at no time to receive advice; on the contrary, I should deem that man more proud than wise, who regulated every proceeding by the standard of his own single judgement. What then is my opinion? That commanders should be counseled chiefly by persons of known talent, by those who have made the art of war their particular study, and whose knowledge is derived from experience, by those who are present at the scene of action, who see the enemy, who see the advantages that occasions offer, and who, like people embarked in the same ship, are sharers of the danger.
If, therefore, anyone thinks himself qualified to give advice respecting the war which I am to conduct, let him not refuse the assistance to the State, but let him come with me into Macedonia.
He shall be furnished with a ship, a tent, even his traveling charges will be defrayed, but if he thinks this is too much trouble, and prefers the repose of a city life to the toils of war, let him not on land assume the office of a pilot. The city in itself furnishes abundance of topics for conversation. Let it confine its passion for talking to its own precincts and rest assured that we shall pay no attention to any councils but such as shall be framed within our camp.-- General Lucius Aemilius Paulus (229-160 B.C.), Rome.
Yes, I posted this last year at some point, but it seemed very apropos this evening.
9 Comments:
By 
Jimmy K., at
Tue Sep 11, 11:21:00 PM:
By Buce, at
Wed Sep 12, 12:36:00 AM:
Must have been hell to be lectured to by Chuck Hagel, a sergeant. Or Dick Lugar, Navy.
By 
, at
Wed Sep 12, 01:08:00 AM:
Liberals are such ascrewy bunch if we had them during WW II we all would be german subjects under a dictator
By , at
Wed Sep 12, 07:03:00 AM:
No clue what was running through Petraeus' head, but watching the testimony I kept hearing this in mine:
"Dump everything you've got on my pos, I say again: expend all remaining in my perimeter! It's a been lovely f***ing war"
By Georg Felis, at
Wed Sep 12, 10:19:00 AM:
I couldn't help but think of the NetFunny post of A message from the Duke of Wellington, 1812 when I was watching the thing. I wonder how many of our beloved representives would have been attending if it had been held in Iraq instead of Washington.
(I would have posted the whole thing except its a little long, but very funny)
By Country Squire, at
Wed Sep 12, 05:50:00 PM:
TH,
In addition to the contemptible reception he received in Congress, General Petraeus also had the added pleasure of dealing with the jackals in the press which brings to mind this quotation:
"It appears we have appointed our worst generals to command forces, and our most gifted and brilliant to edit newspapers! In fact, I discovered by reading newspapers that these editor/geniuses plainly saw all my strategic defects from the start, yet failed to inform me until it was too late. Accordingly, I'm readily willing to yield my command to these obviously superior intellects, and I'll, in turn, do my best for the cause by writing editorials - after the fact."
Robert E. Lee, 1863
By Gordon Smith, at
Wed Sep 12, 10:55:00 PM:
In sharp contrast to the lionisation of Gen. David Petraeus by members of the U.S. Congress during his testimony this week, Petraeus's superior, Admiral William Fallon, chief of the Central Command (CENTCOM), derided Petraeus as a sycophant during their first meeting in Baghdad last March, according to Pentagon sources familiar with reports of the meeting.
Fallon told Petraeus that he considered him to be "an ass-kissing little chickenshit" and added, "I hate people like that", the sources say. That remark reportedly came after Petraeus began the meeting by making remarks that Fallon interpreted as trying to ingratiate himself with a superior.
LINK
By Purple Avenger, at
Thu Sep 13, 11:43:00 AM:
Fallon is the joke here. He's the one responsible for that PRC sub penetrating the CVBG a while ago, and the harebrained military exchange scheme to share our deepest military secrets with the PRC. We showed them ours, they (very predictably) never reciprocated.
Fallon is a total and completely naive incompetent. Fallon is the democrats "plan-B" over there should Petraeus succeed too much.
By Hope Muntz, at
Fri Sep 14, 04:31:00 PM:
You are brilliant.
I had meant to post that after your Glasgow airport bombing satire, but instead I'll repeat it here. Better late than never.
Which could be Petraeus' other thought balloon, I guess.
