Great Krauthammer column this Friday:

He elevates those he agrees with: (emp added throughout)

In the last month, however, as a consensus has emerged about realities in Iraq, a reasoned debate has begun. A number of fair-minded observers, both critics and supporters of the war, agree that the surge has yielded considerable military progress ...

... we have heard from Michael O'Hanlon and Kenneth Pollack of the Brookings Institution ...

... serious voices will prevail.   ...   Serious people ... argue ...

R U SERIOUS?

Krauthammer, like Bush, deploys the straw-man:

... the left will continue to portray Gen. David Petraeus as an unscrupulous commander quite prepared to send his troops into a hopeless battle in order to advance his political ambitions ...

Who on "the left" has claimed Petraeus has political ambitions? Nobody. They have portrayed him as someone who either (a) is a true believer - witness his positive statements about "progress" over the last several years, or (b) unwilling to stand up to Bush. On the other hand, who has claimed political ambitions? Indirectly, Bill Kristol:

[The left] sense that ... these soldiers, fighting courageously in a just cause, ... will be future leaders of this country.

posted by Quiddity at 8/23/2007 11:38:00 PM