Did you see this interesting little tidbit buried in an L.A. Times story yesterday? Seems that General Petraeus isn't going to be writing the Iraq report due next month after all. The White House will:
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.
This would be a joke, if there were anything funny about it. Come on, Congressional Republicans, aren't you sick of being had by this White House?!
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The legislation (that is H.R. 1585: National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2008) requires that the President, as commander-in-chief, submit a report to Congress. It specifically calls on the President to make this report.
But hey lets not allow facts to get in the way of some good Bush bashing!
Last week while listening to NPR's "All Things Considered," I heard Lt. General Douglas Lute, the president's so-called "War Czar" admitting that bringing back the draft is a possible solution that belongs on the table. Obviously the NPR interviewer was spinning the draft option pretty heavily with Lute actually being interrupted as he (pretty convincingly, I thought) downplayed any notions that a draft was imminent. But he didn't dismiss it entirely, either.
Everyone who makes the mistake of mentioning a return to the draft forgets that no congressman who values his seat would be stupid enough to vote for it.
Put the tinfoil back in the cabinet & no one will get hurt...
As was referenced by SA Miller, the legislation requires the POTUS to submit the report.
This is rational, as data and analysis come from many parts of the executive branch not under Gen Petraeus' command.
It is amazing how ignorance can breed suspicion.
There is nothing ignorant about the rampant use of "executive privilege" to stymie every attempt to gather information about the decision processes in the White House.
I will, ask implied, await the WH report based on Gen. Petraeus' information. I will then await the various forms of "I can't answer that" that the general will be forced to use during any congressional hearing the WH allows him to attend.
Oh, and for those who think Congress will have anything to say about the draft: read (or try to read) the last several executive orders that have come from the WH under Bush's signature. Harken back to the formation of the EEOC and the birth of affirmative action: it all started with executive orders.
Congress is fast becoming a toothless tiger, and they have cooperated with the dentistry, mostly, over the last 20 years and more.
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