Agreed -- what was the point of Petraeus' testimony?

An excellent editorial in the Sept. 10 Oklahoma Daily:

http://hub.ou.edu/articles/article.php?item_id=1939381827&section_id=398493765

An excerpt:

Optimism about Iraq is hard to come by, though Petraeus hoped to engender it with his remarks yesterday. Instead, he exposed how irrelevant America has become in Iraq.

Tragic and uplifting

Somebody important said, "War is hell." Still, we sometimes forget how hellish it can be, or for whom the hell tolls.

An example, as excellently reported by CBS News chief foreign correspondence Lara Logan:

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2007/06/18/notebook/main2946477.shtml

Politics and the war

From the "hypocrisy" is an unspoken word in Washington department: Here's an excerpt from Republican presidential candidate John McCain, who in 1993 was strongly advocating the immediate withdrawal of US troops from Somalia:



An example:

"For us to get into nation building, law and order, etc., I think is a tragic and terrible mistake….To think that somehow the United states will suffer a loss to our prestige and our viability as far as the number one superpower in the world I think is baloney.... What can erode our prestige…I”ll tell you what can hurt our viability as the world superpower and that is if we enmesh our selves in a drawn out situation which entails the loss of American lives…," McCain said.

Of course that was when the president was a Democrat. When the president is a Republican, McCain is all for nation building and keeping American military forces at risk at any cost. Eg., Iraq.

I'm sure there are examples of Democratic leaders who have been equally guilty of checking out the color of the party jersey before deciding which team is "right"; but aren't we tired of this?