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December 22, 2007
Investor's Business Daily Picks Gen. David Petraeus
Man Of The Year
Year In Review: Time selects Vladimir Putin as its "Person of the Year" because of the stability he has brought to Russia. Our choice is Gen. David Petraeus — the man who helped bring democracy to the Middle East
The newsweekly's 2007 honor went to the Russian leader because of Putin's "extraordinary feat of leadership in taking a country that was in chaos and bringing it stability," according to Managing Editor Richard Stengel.
If returning a nation said to be on the road to democracy to its militaristic and autocratic past is a criterion, Putin is certainly a valid candidate. He has presided over Russia's rise from a shattered remnant of the Soviet Union to a player on the world stage flush with oil revenue and a military returned from the dead.
Our preference is not for tyrants, but for those who defeat them. We prefer those who advance the causes of peace and democracy and who make the world freer and safer.
In other words, we prefer Petraeus, especially by Stengel's criteria. Petraeus has indeed turned in an "extraordinary feat of leadership" by taking Iraq, another country in chaos, and bringing it more than stability. He has brought it true democracy from the grass roots up, and he's done it by transforming a country full of Shiites, Kurds and Sunnis into a nation of Iraqis.
When Petraeus testified before Congress in September on the progress of the surge he planned and was chosen to execute, most refused to believe his realistic but optimistic report. Those who equated Iraq with the Vietnam "quagmire" thought we were being told again about the light at the end of the tunnel.
A few short months later, even Rep. John Murtha, one of the war's loudest critics, concedes "the surge is working." The Iraqi people think so too. Millions who fled are now returning in droves to rebuild their lives, open businesses and raise children in a free and democratic Iraq.
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid had proclaimed the war to be "lost." And despite the drafting of a constitution and the election of a government, Baghdad had yet to assert control or leadership of a country consumed with sectarian and jihadist violence.
Enter Petraeus, who changed the playbook at halftime. No longer would coalition forces leave their camps, beat up the jihadists and return to base. Now they'd go in greater numbers into the provinces and no longer win and leave, but "clear and hold."
They'd convince Iraqis they weren't going anywhere and neither was America. And under that umbrella of security, remarkable things began to happen. Sunnis and Shiites realized the enemy was not the Americans or each other. It was jihadists who brought nothing but violence, tyranny and oppression.
The uniting of Sunnis and Shiites against al-Qaida's mindless barbarism, coupled with a U.S. surge where troops came and this time stayed, have turned the tide in our favor. In Anbar, once said to be hopelessly lost, tribesman do most of the policing, as 70,000 tribal fighters assist coalition forces inside Baghdad and out.
Violence and casualties, civilian and military, are down dramatically. Iraqis can now stroll the streets of Baghdad even at night, cruising the shops and stopping at cafes in increased safety.
The war is not over, but it is no longer "lost." Al-Qaida in Iraq is on the run, wondering what hit them. Terrorism has suffered a major defeat. Gen. David Petraeus — our Person of the Year.
Wild Thing's comment........
Nobody has accomplished more for this country in a shorter period of time than General Petraeus. He has worked nothing short of a miracle. It was bad enough that he had the Jihaddis, the remnants of Saddam’s regime and Mooky fighting against, but he also had the entire dimocratic party and MSM seeking to undermine his every move. And in spite of it all he succeeded beyond anyone’s wildest expectations. It is men like the general that have made this country a success. Somehow, almost always, during a crisis a leader appears who is able against seeming overwhelming odds to do the impossible.
Thank you General. We honor your lifetime of service and sacrifice to our country.
.....Thank you Tom for sending this article to me.
Posted by Wild Thing at December 22, 2007 12:55 AM
Comments
I don't expect to ever forget the contempt the Senate democrats showed Gen Petraeus before he even delivered his surge assessment. They called him a liar before he spoke.
That the successful results of his surge proved the democrats wrong has just been ignored mostly by those same Senators and Congress people.
Gen Petraeus took a bad military and political situation and reversed it in a short amount of time. He should be remembered historically as one of America's great military leaders.
And Time magazine is a liberal rag full of lies and distortions. Like so much of the Liberal media, it is dying a slow death as fewer and fewer people read it.
Posted by: TomR at December 22, 2007 04:22 AM
Hoo ray for Gen. Petraeus. He deserves it. If not him, it should have gone to Gen. Peter Pace, USMC. Unlike Congress, both men are loyal and of strong moral conviction.
G_d Bless both of you.
Posted by: Steve, CLC at December 22, 2007 06:31 AM
Tom, it felt so good to see this. I was so disappointed with Time. Not totally surprised by them as like you say I know they are a liberal rag, but dissapointed just the same.
Gen Petraeus is such a fine man and I have tremendous respect for him. I agree so much that he should be remembered as one of the top of America's great military leaders.
Posted by: Wild Thing at December 22, 2007 10:01 AM
Steve yes your so right about unlike Congress, what a difference.
Posted by: Wild Thing at December 22, 2007 10:04 AM
Thank you Tom and WT. It never fails to amaze me how our media and the left place such a premium upon the despots and outright Communists as their heroes of worship, it's a breath of fresh air to see for once a national print media making a good choice. Gen Petraeus sure as heck will not get the Nobel Peace Prize that was set up to honor peace makers, that is just what Petraeus has done. That prize has been diminished in value by the left, tarnished by it being given to the unworthy, even if it were to be bestowed on Petraeus, I'd hope it would be given the George C. Scott response and it would be refused for the same propaganda reasons. We'll never know how many lives, especially American lives that General Petraeus has saved by his leadership. I fully agree with Steve. Harry Reid the good General's prime antagonist is unfit even for bayonet practice.
Posted by: Jack at December 22, 2007 02:31 PM
Wow! Investors Business Daily KO's Time with a single punch. That was great. Gen. Patraeus is what is good about this country while Putin is what is bad about the world. Just shows what Time and their liberal friend's value system is all about.
I remember last September when Sen. Clinton told General Petraeus that his progress report on Iraq required "a willing suspension of disbelief." Well, listening to Democrats, particularly the leaders in Congress and those running for President, requires "a willing suspension of disbelief".
Let the voters beware.
Posted by: Les at December 22, 2007 04:38 PM
Jack it truly is amazing, and how they fight within themselves to acknowledge men of honor. Like it is a mirror they look into and it makes them uncomfortable so they don't want to look at it.
Posted by: Wild Thing at December 23, 2007 12:49 AM
Les it sure was a KO punch big time, so wonderful. Good way to put it too.
Posted by: Wild Thing at December 23, 2007 12:50 AM
Ha-ha-ha, well seeing you are Americans who have a blinkered outlook on certain world events and goings on. One to coin a phrase, 'you'll wake up and smell the coffee', then you will maybe realise the error of you ways.
How can somebody who forces their opinions onto others by military action be 'The Person of The Year'. Well done guys for being inward looking and failing to lok at the bigger picture. A true American.
Posted by: Robert at December 24, 2007 07:19 AM
