Gen. Petraeus' Super-Independent, Honest September Report

Glenn Greenwald wrote last month what I believe to be the definitive take on how seriously people should take Gen. Petraeus when he appears on Capitol Hill next month. His report, of course, is the one that breathless pundits have been assuring us for months will lead to congressional Republicans finally ditching President Bush on the war, and is why we all need(ed) to shut the fuck up until then. Greenwald's piece makes clear that Petraeus' track-record was never any better than anything else coming from the administration.

But now a nugget buried in an LA Times piece on the pending Petraeus report makes clear exactly why no one should take this seriously-

...Despite Bush's repeated statements that the report will reflect evaluations by Petraeus and Ryan Crocker, the U.S. ambassador to Iraq, administration officials said it would actually be written by the White House, with inputs from officials throughout the government.

And though Petraeus and Crocker will present their recommendations on Capitol Hill, legislation passed by Congress leaves it to the president to decide how to interpret the report's data.

The senior administration official said the process had created "uncomfortable positions" for the White House because of debates over what constitutes "satisfactory progress."...

Bold added by me, because duh. I guess we can just call it the White House report now.

With this revealed, it's no surprise the White House was trying to minimize the much-hyped Petraeus report. They are also now claiming that the report was never Petraeus's in the first place, but the record betrays this latest lie.

Will Congress, knowing this, fall for this kabuki? The answer is that it won't make a difference, with maybe a few exceptions. Everyone who already has abandoned the Bush policy will continue to push for withdrawal. Those who have voted with the White House line will continue to do so, cherry-picking what they need from the report to urge more eternal patience. No veto-proof majority gained, and the war continues into 2009.

At most, we'll get superficial troop cuts, likely just removing extras added this year.

It's depressing when you see a train-wreck coming and you can only stand by and watch.