It seems like everyone outside the liberal left was mortified (who doesn't care about the consequences of war more) at MoveOn's "Petraeus or Betray Us" ad. How could we criticize a general....that was in Iraq, OMFG. There was no way Bush could be using him for political purposes, this guy said that no one influenced his report and we must believe him no matter what. So tell me this, if any soldier wore fraudulent medals before Congress or anywhere in public, would you still believe anything that came out of his mouth? Here's what happened....
From DailyKos:
Let me break this down for you:
- To get the valor medal, General Petraeus had to be under enemy fire.
- He is described to have been under enemy fire in the battle for Najaf.
- The only incident of enemy fire reported near General Petraeus was on March 30th.
The descriptions of that event by the two separate journalists match perfectly - one mortar round hit between 40 and 50 meters away from Generals Petraeus and Wallace as they read a map on the hood of a Humvee. They acted nonchalant.
The event is described in this article penned by Gregg Zoroya and Steve Komarow. It describes one mortar round hitting at the above distance. Komarow was embedded with V Corps, General Wallace's command.
Pulitzer-prize-winning journalist Rick Atkinson was so close he dove between two trucks when the round hit. He stood up quickly and got back to reporting. We must all now depend on Atkinson to stick by his reporting as the Swiftboat is thrown into hard reverse.
Embedded with the 101st Airborne "at the elbow" of General Petraeus - a person he knew well - Atkinson describes the event in his book In The Company Of Soldiers. He was Petraeus's constant companion during this time. If there was another event in Najaf, Atkinson would have described it. And we have no reason to disbelieve his account of events of March 30.
Then there is the Army story. It was apparently passed around to troops to demonstrate the esprit de corps and fighting spirit of the general officers. It is so bad, so irreconcilable with Atkinson's detailed description of events, that when I read it I thought I was hallucinating. So, I asked a friendly librarian to read the two descriptions and compare them. Librarians are dignified people, but as she read, her jaw literally dropped. When she was finished she almost started crying.
The whole diary is fantastic, so I recommend you read all of it. Basically the army fabricated a story to get the General an award he did not deserve. That is atrocious. They may be little pieces of cloth or metallic objects, but those medals signify so much more than the material they are made of. They represent bravery, courage and giving 110% or more. Petraeus should be ashamed, and no one should be able to take his words at face value.
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