Bush: MoveOn.org ad on Petraeus 'disgusting'

[Kristina]

Bush: MoveOn.org ad on Petraeus 'disgusting'

Story Highlights
NEW: Senate passes 72-25 a GOP amendment to repudiate MoveOn.org ad

President Bush calls MoveOn.org's ad on Gen. David Petraeus "disgusting"

Newspaper ad titled "General Petraeus or General Betray Us?"

Bush says Democrats were afraid to criticize ad from anti-war group


     
WASHINGTON (CNN) -- A MoveOn.org political advertisement that criticized the top U.S. commander in Iraq was "disgusting," President Bush said Thursday, accusing Democrats of being afraid to criticize the anti-war group.




Gen. David Petraeus testifies on Capitol Hill last week about the so-called surge in Iraq.

 Bush told reporters at a White House news conference that MoveOn.org's ad in The New York Times about Gen. David Petraeus was a "sorry deal." The September 10 full-page ad was titled "General Petraeus or General Betray Us?"

"I felt like the ad was an attack, not only on Gen. Petraeus, but on the U.S. military," Bush said. "And I was disappointed that not more leaders in the Democratic Party spoke out strongly against that kind of ad."

Bush said that "most Democrats are afraid of irritating a left-wing group like MoveOn.org" and they "are more afraid of irritating them than they are of irritating the United States military."  Watch Bush condemn the MoveOn.org ad »

He said, "It's one thing to attack me. It's another thing to attack somebody like Gen. Petraeus."

Many Democratic lawmakers immediately criticized the ad after it was published.

Eli Pariser, executive director of MoveOn.org, reacted quickly to Bush's comments.

"What's disgusting is that the president has more interest in political attacks than developing an exit strategy to get our troops out of Iraq and end this awful war," Pariser said. "The president has no credibility on Iraq: He lied repeatedly to the American people to get us into the war. Most Americans oppose the war and want us to get out."

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MoveOn.org and other war critics have accused Petraeus and the Bush administration of "cherry-picking" data to make it seem that military success is being achieved in Iraq.

During testimony last week before Congress, Petraeus and Ryan Crocker, U.S. ambassador to Iraq, said they believed the U.S. troop increase in Iraq has had some success, an assertion that critics of the war have questioned.

A Senate GOP amendment to repudiate the MoveOn.org ad passed Thursday 72-25 as Republicans tried to force Democrats to distance themselves, on the record, from the controversy.

Among Democratic presidential candidates, Sens. Hillary Clinton of New York and Sens. Chris Dodd of Connecticut voted against the resolution. Sens. Joe Biden of Delaware and Barack Obama of Illinois didn't vote.


In a 51-46 vote, Democrats failed in a bid to condemn "personal attacks" on then-Democratic Sen. Max Cleland of Georgia in 2002 and Sen. John Kerry, the 2004 party presidential nominee. Sixty votes were needed to proceed.

The Democratic amendment about Cleland and Kerry also included language condemning the "unwarranted personal attack" on Petraeus. E-mail to a friend

CNN's Dana Bash contributed to this report.

http://www.cnn.com/2007/POLITICS/09/20/bush.petraeus/index.html

[Kristina]

All the myriad problems facing America today and Congress wastes time debating whether to condemn a newspaper ad. 

And, as for the pretend outrage feigned by Bush and the Republicans, apparently they are only offended when it concerns a soldier who supports their point of view.

John Kerry, decorated war hero, his patriotism attacked by the Swiftboaters during the campaign of 2004.

Max Cleland, a Vietnam war hero who lost three limbs in Vietnam, his patriotism attacked during the 2002 campaign. 

Where was the outrage of the Republicans when these people were being attacked, let alone any resolutions condemning their treatment? 

Bush handpicks generals who supports his point of view, marginalizes and retires others who do not.  He, and his Republican cronies in Congress are simply Republican propagandists, and to the extent that any of them even care for the troops at all, it is so that they keep dying to support their ill-planned, poorly waged, waste of a war. And shame on Democrats like Carl Levin who keep pandering to these hypocritical cretins.