Can These Really be General Petraeus’ Words?

Through an admixture of military strategy, politics and diplomacy General Petraeus managed to do what none of his predecessors was capable of. When the scholarly general took over command of coalition troops in Iraq, the situation on the ground was chaotic. By the time he left, many former enemies had forged an alliance with the Iraqi and coalition forces. His accomplishment are many, his intellectual acumen is uncommon. As the Wikipedia describes him:

General David Howell Petraeus, USA (born November 7, 1952) is the 10th and current Commander, U.S. Central Command. Petraeus previously served as Commanding General, Multi-National Force - Iraq (MNF-I) from January 26, 2007 to September 16, 2008. As Commander of MNF-I, Petraeus oversaw all coalition forces in Iraq. Petraeus was the General George C. Marshall Award winner as the top graduate of the U.S. Army Command and General Staff College—class of 1983. He subsequently earned a M.P.A. degree (1985) and a Ph.D. degree (1987) in International Relations from the Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs at Princeton University. He later served as Assistant Professor of International Relations at the U.S. Military Academy and also completed a fellowship at Georgetown University. He has a BS from the U.S. Military Academy—class of 1974—from which he graduated as a distinguished cadet (top 5% of his class).

Petraeus has garnered numerous accolades in recent years. In 2009, he received the National Defense Industrial Association’s Eisenhower Award, the Office of Strategic Service’s William Donovan Award, the No Greater Sacrifice Freedom Award, the Atlantic Council of the United States’ Military Leadership Award, the Congressional Medal of Honor Society’s Distinguished Citizen Award. In 2008, a poll conducted by Foreign Policy and Prospect magazines selected Petraeus as one of the world’s top 100 public intellectuals. Also, the Business Executives for National Security awarded Petraeus their 2008 Eisenhower Award. Also in 2008, the Static Line Association named Petraeus as its 2008 Man of the Year, and Der Spiegel named him “America’s most respected soldier.” As 2008 came to a close, GQ Magazine (December 2008) named Petraeus as the “Leader of the Year: Right Man, Right Time”, Newsweek named him the 16th most powerful person in the world in its December 20, 2008 edition, and Prospect magazine named him the “Public Intellectual of the Year”. In 2007, Time named Petraeus one of the 100 most influential leaders and revolutionaries of the year as well as one of its four runners up for Time Person of the Year. He was also named the second most influential American conservative by The Daily Telegraph[13] as well as The Daily Telegraph’s 2007 Man of the Year. In 2005, Petraeus was selected as one of America’s top leaders by US News and World Report.

General Petraeus, indeed, has a distinguished career filled with admirable accomplishements I have no doubt he will continue to serve this country with honor and class. Because of all the above I find it astonishing that the following naive words, if true, could have come out of the great General’s mouth as reported in Lebanon’s Daily Star:

Petraeus: Hizbullah will have no reason to exist

Daily Star staff
Tuesday, June 02, 2009

BEIRUT: US Central Command Chief General David Petraeus told Al-Hayat newspaper in comments published on Monday that the administration of US President Barack Obama considered Hizbullah a terrorist organization, adding that the party did not participate in fostering stability in Lebanon. “Hizbullah’s justifications for existence will become void if the Palestinian cause is resolved. Reaching an agreement over a peace process in the Middle East will eliminate several groups’ justifications for existence,” he explained. Petraeus added that resolving the Palestinian-Israeli conflict will pave the way for Arabs and Muslims to help the US in its war against terrorism. - The Daily Star

The fact remains that Hizbullah came into existence out of hatred for the US, as demonstrated by the 1983 bombing of the American barracks in Beirut. That attack killed 299 soldiers out of which 241 were US Marines. Palestine was a cause it pretended to embrace much later and only because it gave its Iranian puppet masters an excuse and a way of trying to legitimize its existence in the Arab world while contributing to the instability of the Middle East. The fact remains that Hassan Nasrallah’s Hizbullah, under the direction of that putrid little maggot Ahmedinajad, is poised to take over Lebanon in the upcoming elections on June 7th and that has NOTHING to do with the Israeli/Palestinian problem. The fact remains that Hizbullah is exporting terror to Egypt and other Sunni Arab nations and that has NOTHING to do with the Israeli/Palestinian problem.  Lebanon’s Naharnet reported:

Hizbullah’s Growing Regional Role Piques Arabs

Arab governments are starting to see the fingerprints of Hizbullah all over the Middle East, adding to their growing alarm over Iran’s power and a widening Sunni-Shiite rift.

The worry comes at a time when Hizbullah is expected to make strong political gains inside Lebanon in the June 7 parliamentary elections.

The double whammy by Hizbullah — of growing political influence at home, coupled with more outreach abroad — has put the squeeze on traditional but waning Arab powers like Egypt, already rattled by President Barack Obama’s outreach to their foe Iran.

“Hizbullah ….. (now) plays a role that is heavier, more important and influential than many Arab nations,” said Amal Saad-Ghorayeb, a Lebanese expert on the group.

Nowhere has the feud been as overt as between Hizbullah and Egypt, which recently accused the Lebanese group of organizing a cell to carry out terror attacks inside Egypt.

Yemen’s president also has accused Hizbullah operatives of training Shiite rebels there, while Saudi Arabia has repeatedly warned of Iranian influence across the region. Morocco unexpectedly cut ties with Iran earlier this year, accusing it of spreading Shiite influence in that mainly Sunni nation.

Hizbullah insists it has no intention of interfering in any country’s internal politics. Leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah has denied interference in Yemen and said the Hizbullah operative arrested in Egypt was organizing weapons smuggling to neighboring Gaza, not targeting Egypt.

Even that — the first time Hizbullah has admitted arming the Palestinian militant group Hamas in Gaza — was a startling, direct revelation of Hizbullah’s reach.

“We are not shy about providing the Palestinian people with the support they need,” said the Hizbullah leader’s point man on Arab affairs, Hassan Izzedine, in a recent interview. “But we don’t intervene, even if we are asked, when it is a problem between a regime and its people, or a regime and the opposition.”

However, Izzedine also suggested that Hizbullah hopes its record at fighting Israel would be a role model for Arabs. He also suggested Hizbullah would be ready to intervene to end any serious Sunni-Shiite rifts outside Lebanon. Nasrallah on Wednesday accused the United States and Israel of trying to create strife between Sunni Arab countries and Shiite Iran.

Shiite Hizbullah might normally have little appeal among the Sunni-dominated nations of the Arab Mideast. But Nasrallah’s popularity skyrocketed because of his fighters’ tough stand against Israel in a summer 2006 war in Lebanon.

Hizbullah wants “to make inroads into the wider Sunni Arab world,” said Ibrahim Bayram, an expert on Shiite affairs who writes for An-Nahar daily.

In Iraq, Hizbullah is accused of training Shiite militiamen in conflict with Baghdad’s central government, and of helping to plan a brazen 2007 attack on U.S. troops.

But other than in Iraq, there had never been accusations of Hizbullah directly targeting an Arab country’s government, as Egypt has claimed. Generally, Arab governments have turned a blind eye to Hizbullah activities.

Hizbullah’s new prominence comes as the Sunni-Shiite rift has worsened considerably in the last few years. On one side are Sunni Arab allies of the United States like Egypt, Saudi Arabia and Jordan. On the other are Shiite Iran and its allies Syria, and Hizbullah and Sunni Hamas.

The pro-U.S. camp’s fears have spiked recently, in part because of Obama’s efforts to open dialogue with Iran. U.S. Arab allies worry that outreach will leave them in the lurch.

At the same time, Hizbullah’s power only seems to grow. In Lebanon, a coalition that includes Hizbullah holds a strong chance of winning upcoming parliamentary elections. And Britain is considering starting a dialogue, which would give the group a measure of international legitimacy.

Regionally, Egypt’s arrest of the cell it claimed was organized by Hizbullah quickly turned into an ugly spat. Egypt’s state-run press blasted Nasrallah as a criminal and “fake sheik.” President Hosni Mubarak warned Iran and Hizbullah not to interfere in Egypt’s “security and stability.”

Nasrallah replied by mocking Egypt as a fading power. “Did (the arrest) restore to Egypt its regional and international prestige?” he asked in one recent address. “Certainly not.”

Beirut, 21 May 09, 10:04

Is organizing to carry out attacks inside Egypt, Yemen, Morocco in any way related to the Palestinians??!? Is conducting attacks in Iraq in any way related to the Palestinians?!?!? I have no doubt General Petraeus is fully aware that there is no connection whatsoever. What then could have prompted him to engage in such blatant revisionism? Obviously the Obama administration is using the illustrious general to sway public opinion… as they get ready to throw the Zionist Entity far under the bus. Pity!

Chaim