I made this point on Hugh Hewitt’s show last night: President Obama’s selection of General Petraeus to oversee our mission in Afghanistan –coupled with Petraeus’s speedy and overwhelming confirmation by a Democrat-controlled Senate — is dispositive evidence that his leadership in Iraq was nothing short of exemplary, and the strategy he employed was successful. Just three years ago, the notion of an unanimous vote of confidence for Petraeus seemed unfathomable. Today it is reality.
How did we get here?
2007: Senator Obama boldly predicts the Petraeus-led troop surge in Iraq will not only fail; it will exacerbate the sectarian violence.
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2007: Prominent Democrats cast aspersions on Gen. Petraeus’ veracity during his Congressional testimony. Some, including Senators Obama and Clinton, refuse to condemn MoveOn.org’s repulsive “Betray Us” advertisement.
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2008: Candidate Obama tells ABC News that despite overwhelming evidence of the surge’s progress, he wasn’t wrong to oppose it, and would vote ‘no’ again — even in retrospect.
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2009: President Obama announces a troop surge in Afghanistan.
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Last week: President Obama nominates Gen. Petraeus as top U.S. commander in Afghanistan.
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Today: The heavily Democratic US Senate confirms Gen. Petraeus by a vote of 99-0.
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What a remarkable evolution — and, to some extent, a political vindication for a much-maligned former president. God speed, general.
