RUSH: Why do you listen to this program? Well, there are many countless reasons, but among the reasons you listen to this program is that we do not do conventional wisdom. We do not march in lockstep. I don’t care where you go today. Right now turn on any network, go to any Drive-By Media website, and you’re going to see luxurious praise of Obama of all the courage it took to do this, ‘To stand up for what is right, even if it means blowing the Afghanistan policy wide open and causing some problems temporarily. This was a courageous, gutsy move. Why, this was right in the line of duty along with Lincoln and McClellan. It was right in line with Truman and MacArthur,’ and it’s none of that. That’s BS. I wish I could say the word. It is total BS. We have an incompetent little child who’s got a giant chip on his shoulder about this country running it.
The essence of this today, getting rid of McChrystal and replacing with Petraeus? Let me again read to you from Vanity Fair: ‘When Senator Obama’s turn came to question General Petraeus’ during the week that MoveOn.org ran the Betray Us ad. Hillary Clinton, Harry Reid, all these Democrats calling Petraeus a liar, and today they embrace him? That’s the story. And here’s Obama: ‘When his turn came to question Petraeus, Obama lectured Petraeus on the futility of his mission, the surge in Iraq. He used up his entire seven-minute allotment, giving the general no chance to respond to anything he said. Among the things Obama said to Petraeus: ‘We have now set the bar so low that modest improvement in what was a completely chaotic situation’s considered success, but it’s not. This continues to be a disastrous foreign policy mistake.”
The whole war, Petraeus’ surge, were pronounced by Obama an utter mistake. Chaos. No chance of success. Today, who does Obama hire to run the same kind of operation in Afghanistan? The very man he lambasted as a senator during hearings! He essentially called him a liar, agreeing with Hillary Clinton and Harry Reid and others, and then saying that his policy wouldn’t work, and no basis in fact. Today, he hires him. Everywhere else in the media, I don’t care who it is, ‘What a courageous move! This puts him in the league of Harry Truman.’ There’s no such comparison. MacArthur was trying to change US policy. MacArthur, one way of looking at it, really was wanting to go rogue. Well, he wanted to win. You know, Patton did the same thing. Patton didn’t want to stop with the Germans. Patton said, ‘If we don’t take care of these Russian…’ (Chuckles) Well, he had a word. Patton had a loose tongue.
‘If we don’t take care of these SOBs right now we’re going to have to deal with them down the road. I’m here. I’m here, Ike! Let me go get ’em, Ike!’ ‘No. Come home.’ And he was right. MacArthur might have been right, too. The point is, there’s no comparison between those two guys and what McChrystal did. Read this Rolling Stone piece when it comes out. You’re not going to find any criticism of Obama from McChrystal. But it wasn’t just Obama who lambasted Petraeus to his face. ‘We have set the bar so low,’ Obama said to General Petraeus, ‘modest improvement in what was a completely chaotic situation is considered success, and it’s not. This continues to be a disastrous foreign policy mistake.’ Yet he hires him today to basically replicate his success in Iraq and Afghanistan. Meet the Depressed, September 9th, 2007, Tim Russert interviewed Joe Biden. Question: ‘Joe Biden, welcome back from Iraq. What did you see, what did you hear, what did you learn?’
BIDEN: Well, what I, uhh, I saw heard and learned is a little bit what you heard, uhh, from the general just a moment ago. Uhh, there’s a big disconnect between, uhh, the truth of the matter and the reality. I mean the truth of the matter is that, uhhh, the America — this administration’s policy and the surge are a failure and that, uh, the surge, uh, which was supposed to stop sectarian violence, uh, long enough to get political reconciliation… There’s been no political reconciliation.
RUSH: Surge is a failure. Today’s vice president, Vice President ‘Bite Me,’ says that this was a failure. The surge, the policy, are a failure. That surge has been an utter failure. The vice president, Joe ‘Bite Me,’ Meet the Press, September 9th, 2007. So Tim Russert said, ‘Well, Senator [Bite Me], General Petraeus said in a letter to his troops, ‘We have not had the political reconciliation they thought we would have at this time. It’s been much slower, but there’s some hope,’ and then he added this: ‘My sense is that we have achieved tactical momentum and wrested the initiative from our enemies in a number of areas in Iraq. We are, in short, a long way from the goal line, but we do have the ball, and we’re driving down the field.’ Is that what you expect him to say tomorrow?’
BIDEN: I expect him to say that. I think he’s dead, flat, wrong. The fact of the matter is is that, uh, this — this idea of these security gains we made have had no impact on the underlying sectarian dynamic. None! None whatsoever! Can anybody envision a central government made up of Sunni, Shi’a, and Kurds, that’s going to gain the trust and respect of 27 million Iraqis? It’s not going to happen.
RUSH: It did happen! It did happen. Let’s don’t forget Senator Bite Me was the guy who wanted to divvy up Iraq into three different countries, basically: ‘Sunni, Shi’a, Kurd.’ Because they would never unify and we were going to be the reason why. We were going to be the reason why it would never happen. So here you have today’s president and today’s vice president ripping General Petraeus a new one in every forum they had the opportunity to appear, and today they hire him and sing his praises. ‘But, Rush! But, Rush! Don’t you think it means they’ve learned?’ No, it doesn’t mean anything of the sort.
It means that they’re a bunch of lying sacks of you know what back during the hearings when Petraeus was talking about the surge. It means that they were entirely political. They were putting their own party’s political future ahead of the US military’s victory in Iraq. It was despicable, it was dishonorable, and it’s dishonorable today to have these two people running the show. And yet, wherever you go, we’re hearing nothing but praise, accolades. ‘Obama, wonderful! Oh, he has the same temperament and abilities as Truman and Lincoln.’ That is why you listen to this program, among many other reasons. Petraeus, I don’t know why he accepts it. He’s been called to duty; that’s why he accepts it. He’s been called to duty. He’s a bigger man than Senator Bite Me and President Obama combined, put together, quadrupled.
BREAK TRANSCRIPT
RUSH: Let’s not forget, folks, our glorious and wonderful State-Controlled Media, Chris Matthews, called Petraeus’ appearance before the Senate and House committees on his surge in Iraq a dog and pony show. He said it a dozen times. We played a montage of him saying it over and over again, calling Petraeus’ appearance a dog and pony show. That’s the real essence of the story. Petraeus was a dog and pony show, now all of a sudden he’s a hero, now all of a sudden General Petraeus has most favored military status among the American left and the American media? They hated his guts when he worked for Bush. They said his surge wouldn’t work, it was a waste of time, and he was nothing but chaotic. Today he’s hired to replace McChrystal.
Now, about that, General Petraeus is the head of CENTCOM, and now replaces the four-star who reported to him. McChrystal reported to Petraeus. Now, that means we are still short a four-star general here at CENTCOM because McChrystal’s gone. And a four-star general is not a part-time job. I don’t know what this means for Iraq if the head of CENTCOM is now spending all of his time in Afghanistan. There has to be more to come on this. You just don’t get rid — and you people in the military I’m sure understand what I’m talking about — you don’t just get rid of a four-star and not replace him. And especially the four-star who was reporting to Petraeus is gone so now Petraeus goes to Afghanistan to replace the guy reporting to him, you gotta vacuum of four-stars now. And Petraeus was in charge of Afghanistan and Iraq, as the four-star in charge CENTCOM, so now what? Now do we pull out of Iraq? There has to be more to come on this. This is disastrous.
There are some smart people out there who said that Obama would not get rid of McChrystal for this very reason, that we’re on the verge of implementing the full force of McChrystal’s strategery, we’re on the verge of implementing it. You kick the four-star leader out of this, the effect on the troops, morale, everything else, can’t possibly be good. I don’t know how negative it is, but they love this guy. This guy was Special Ops in Iraq. This guy was down in the tunnels and the trenches with them. He didn’t hang back in the air-conditioned quarters. He went out there with them. McChrystal I mean. So now we’ve put on a roller coaster the whole Iraq policy, and nothing against Petraeus here, I mean he’s a general, he accepts the command, but this is an absolute circus. It is a circus all to project the supposed political acumen and leadership characteristics and qualities of our man-child president. Yeah, he’s not going to take any guff, he’s not going to be insulted and dissed by a four-star, not our guy, not Barack Obama, he’s not going to take any of this. Fine. We’ll sit around and wait to see what the policy initiatives are.
Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, this is Bob. Great to have you on the program, sir. Hello.
CALLER: Hello, Rush. Rush, I have a couple things. Number one, I’m a Vietnam vet, senior citizen, and a tea party advocate. I regurgitated at Obama’s speech today about McChrystal. He just really doesn’t understand it. When you hear it all and look at it and listen to it, you’ll say, ‘My God, how could the guy lie like this?’ I am glad that McChrystal did not join the Chicago mob that he’s not in power now.
RUSH: You’re happy he resigned, you mean?
CALLER: Oh, I’m happy he resigned in the sense I’m sure he was forced to resign. There’s no question. You cannot do that to The Messiah.
RUSH: Exactly. Because nothing is bigger than Obama.
CALLER: I did listen to your program about the corporate generals the other day, and to put this in perspective, I served with generals in Vietnam, and it is a shame that we have to go through this. One other question when you were just talking, one other point, this is Obama’s way of downsizing the military. He might not replace him. Look at all the savings he’s got.
RUSH: All the savings he’s got. He’s not going to save that much with one absent four-star. Downsize the military. Look, I have no doubt that’s coming but not because of this. The reason the downsizing the military is coming is budgetary. Oh, yeah, you make book on it, folks, before Obama’s gone, all these deficits, all the debt, all the spending, all his entitlements, these are things for people, these are good, we’re going to have to honor these commitments, we’re going to have to cut back on military spending, we’re just going to have to. That’s what the left has been wanting to do ever since I’ve been alive. And here now in their minds is a legitimate opportunity to do so. (interruption) Yes, what’s the question? Hm-hm. Hm-hm. Okay. The question: who do I think is the bigger hero to the people in Afghanistan, McChrystal or Obama? You mean the average, ordinary citizen? Oh, our troops. Who’s the bigger hero to our troops in Afghanistan, Obama or McChrystal? (laughing) Come on. That’s not even a question. Well, I don’t know. Petraeus better win this whole thing in a year because we’re gonna start withdrawing next July, July 2011 we’re going to start drawing down. We’ve given a time frame. So Petraeus has a year to pull this off.
Bob in Kalispell, Montana, great to have you on the EIB Network. Hello.
CALLER: Hello, Rush. Big Sky dittos from the entrance to Glacier National Park.
RUSH: Thank you, sir, very much.
CALLER: I have a comment here about — I guess I’m the only one that has thought about this. A few years in the Marine Corps didn’t really make me a military expert, but seems to me that taking the CENTCOM commander and replacing the Afghan commander is a big demotion for Petraeus.
RUSH: Well, in a sense, in a sense it is because a CENTCOM commander, he’s in charge of both Iraq and Afghanistan. Now you’re sending him to Afghanistan to explicitly lead that effort, we’re a four-star short. Demotion, yeah, I can see where you could look at it that way. But I don’t know why Obama would want to demote Petraeus, unless he wants to saddle a loss on Petraeus, unless he wants this thing to be lost and have it be Petraeus’ fault. Well, yeah, you might be asking yourself or he might, Obama might be saying who else can I trust. I don’t know why he trusts Petraeus. I’m not a military guy so I don’t know, but if I had been told that I’m a liar to my face and I think Petraeus is a warrior general. If Petraeus is a corporate general, I was discussing earlier this week, then he’d play in the game and go along with it as it needs to be played, but I always thought Petraeus was a warrior general, his purpose to go out there, kill people and break things, kill bad guys and emerge victorious, that’s what he did with the surge.
And to me the proof that he was a warrior general was the attacks on him by the likes of Obama and Bite Me and Harry Reid and all the others when he showed up to give a preliminary report. Before he even said a word we had that General Betray Us ad from MoveOn.org. There was a vote to condemn that ad, and I’m not sure — no, Obama did not vote to condemn it. That’s right. Obama did not vote to condemn the Betray Us ad. He didn’t vote. He called in sick, or as they say, voted ‘present.’ Hillary voted against the condemnation of the ad. I don’t know what Senator Bite Me did, but there was a vote to condemn the ad, Obama didn’t vote on it. So now Petraeus runs the show and we are a four-star general short at CENTCOM.
BREAK TRANSCRIPT
RUSH: I’ll tell you what the spin of Obama is going to be, ’cause we have it here from Chris Matthews. We have what he said prior to Obama speaking this afternoon announcing the fate of General Petraeus, and it’s right along the lines of what I’ve been saying. You’re going to be hearing it all afternoon and all night on cable TV: ‘What a magnificent guy. He rose to the occasion, Obama did! I mean, he is a huge leader. Why, he is in the same category as Truman and Lincoln. Why, he’s taken control of the situation.’ Here’s the spin. This is Chris Matthews. He’s asked by Andrea Mitchell, ‘Should Obama have even gotten involved in this? Shouldn’t the Pentagon brass have dealt with this McChrystal thing? Why did Obama get involved in it?’
MATTHEWS: The president may benefit here. There is a question that’s been raised in his handling, uh, of the oil spill about chain of command and executive, uh, authority. And here’s a chance for him in a — in a somewhat way or somewhat in a per– in a personnel matter to insist on his role as commander-in-chief in a way that hasn’t been so clear, uhh, during this whole oil spill matter. BP has been the front, uh, institution, not the United States government in this whole horror down there in the Gulf, and I think it’s hurt the president’s standing.
RUSH: ‘Yeah, he’s let BP run show so now, now he’s on top of things! He took care of McChrystal. It’s going to help him out here. He’s looking like a leader now.’ That’s what the spin’s going to be. ‘Obama finally takes control, Obama finally kicking ass, Obama finally asserting his authority here.’ Here is… Let’s see. I don’t want to play this. Well, let’s do it. Here’s a little bit of what Obama said, talking about the resignation of McChrystal. We have some bites. Here’s the first one…
OBAMA: War is bigger than any one man or woman — whether a private, a general, or a president.
RUSH: How big of you.
OBAMA: As difficult as it is to lose General McChrystal, I believe that it is the right decision for our national security. The conduct represented in the recently published article does not meet the standard that should be set by a commanding general. It undermines the civilian control of the military that is at the core of our democratic system, and it erodes the trust that’s necessary for our team to work together to achieve our objectives in Afghanistan.
RUSH: Oh, give me a break. If there’s anything eroding the trust of the team working together it’s you and your administration. Talk to anybody in the military who is a warrior and not some corporate military person, and you’ll hear that exact assessment. Here’s some more of what Obama said…
OBAMA: It is my duty to ensure that no diversion complicates the vital mission that they are carrying out. That includes adherence to a strict code of conduct. Our democracy depends upon institutions that are stronger than individuals. That includes strict adherence to the military chain of command and respect for civilian control over that chain of command. I’ve just told my national security team that now is the time for all of us to come together.
RUSH: Now?
OBAMA: Doing so is not an option but an obligation. I welcome debate among my team, but I won’t tolerate division. All of us have personal interests, all of us have opinions, our politics often fuels conflict, but we have to renew our sense of common purpose and meet our responsibilities to one another and to our troops who are in harm’s way and to our country.
RUSH: Now is the time for all of us to come together? Why are you not together, is the question. Why do you have to come together? Has McChrystal exhibited this kind of rogue behavior before in his career, before Obama came along? Do we know? Here’s another exciting presidential sound bite…
OBAMA: General Petraeus fully participated in our review last fall —
RUSH: Yeah.
OBAMA: — and he both supported and helped design the strategy that we have in place.
RUSH: Stop the tape. It’s the exact strategy that you condemned when it was implemented in Iraq! Recue this. It was the exact strategy you condemned and Hillary Clinton condemned and accused Petraeus of lying when he implemented it for Iraq. And now all of a sudden today he praises it and nobody’s pointing this out. They’re all on the same page. ‘What a wonderful leader! Obama’s wrested control. He’s finally exhibiting his authority. We’ve finally got him doing what he want, acting like an adult,’ blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. Well, the real story is here: What the hell is changed about Petraeus? How come Petraeus is the savior now? Back in 2007 he was a worthless loser. Now all of a sudden he can take over the gig!
OBAMA: General Petraeus fully participated in our review last fall, and he both supported and helped design the strategy that we have in place. At his current post at Central Command he has worked closely with our forces in Afghanistan, he has worked closely with Congress, he has worked closely with the Afghan and Pok-ee-stahn governments and with all our partners in the region. He has my full confidence.
RUSH: Yeah, when did that start? No, I want to know. When did that start? Because Obama didn’t say anything indicating he had any confidence in Petraeus back during the Iraq war. Here’s the last bite. I think it’s the last bite we have. Yes thankfully it is the last bite that we have.
OBAMA: We cannot impose a military solution on what has effectively become a civil war, and until we acknowledge that reality, we can send 15,000 more troops, 20,000 more troops, 30,000 more troops. Uh, I don’t know any expert, uh, on the region or any military officer that I’ve spoken to privately, uh, that believes that that is gonna make a substantial difference on the situation on the ground.
RUSH: Well, it made a big difference to McChrystal. That’s a big difference. He didn’t get the boots on the ground that he asked for. He didn’t get the rules of engagement that he was saddled with. But we elected the guy so we live with it. Yip yip yip yip yahoo. Da-da ta-da ta-da.