DON'T BELIEVE THE GENERAL
By Bill Press
Tribune Media Services

You know the old Chinese proverb: "Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me."

You may also know the George W. Bush translation, from a 2002 speech in Nashville: "There's an old saying in Tennessee - I know it's in Texas, probably in Tennessee - that says, fool me once, shame on . . . shame on you. Fool me . . . you can't get fooled again."

Well, folks, whether you believe in the original version or the Bush mangling, we Americans are about to get fooled again by another general. And if we let that happen, shame, shame on us.

On Sept. 10 and 11, Gen. David Petraeus will make his long-awaited report to Congress on the success of President Bush's "surge" in Iraq. There's no doubt what he'll say. Administration officials admit that his report was already been written for him, in the White House. And Petraeus will tell Congress exactly what the White House wants him to say: We're making progress. But we still have a long way to go. So we need more time and more money.

And because he's a general, and because he wears the uniform, we're supposed to believe him. After all, generals always tell the truth. Generals would never deceive the American people. Oh, no? Let's not forget: It was another general who helped get us into this mess in the first place.

The first time President Bush was having a hard time selling the war in Iraq, he played the same trick on us: He pulled a general out of the hat. General-turned-Secretary-of-State Colin Powell appeared before the United Nations Security Council and outlined Iraq's military might: stockpiles of weapons of mass destruction; mobile weapons labs; long-range missiles; armed drones; nuclear weapons in hand or under production. It was detailed. It was devastating. And it worked - to convince most Americans that an invasion of Iraq was justified because Iraq posed such a serious military threat to the United States.

Only later did we learn that Colin Powell's presentation was nothing but a pack of lies. We'd be fools to expect anything closer to the truth from Gen. Petraeus.

Notice, of course, that President Bush is rolling David Petraeus out on Sept. 11 - because, one more time, he'll try to make the case that Iraq is somehow tied to 9/11. It's a phony argument, but one that Petraeus, apparently, is more than willing to help him make.

And let's be honest. Even though for most of his career Petraeus was hailed as a brilliant, competent commander, he's now part of the White House team. He wouldn't have his job if he hadn't promised Bush ahead of time he'd toe the party line. Why do you think Bush fired Gen. George Casey and replaced him with Petraeus? Because Casey didn't believe more troops in Iraq were the answer, and Petraeus did. Having been responsible for the surge for the last nine months, Petraeus could never admit that Bush's plan is failing.

Nor is Petraeus to be trusted as a neutral observer on Iraq. As columnist Paul Krugman recently noted in The New York Times, six weeks before the 2004 election, when Bush was in a tight race for re-election against John Kerry, Petraeus wrote an op-ed piece in the Times citing "tangible evidence" that American troops were making significant progress on the ground in Iraq - even though there was no such evidence then, or now. Was this part of his job interview with President Bush?

And before we get carried away with what a great manager he is, let's remember Petraeus' last job. According to a recent report by the Government Accountability Office, the Pentagon has lost track of 190,000 AK-47 assault rifles and pistols given to Iraqi security forces in 2004 and 2005. That represents 30 percent of all weapons distributed as part of our effort to train and equip Iraqi forces. The man in charge of security training at the time was Gen. David H. Petraeus.

All the more reason for members of Congress not to be dazzled by his ribbons or his rank. Gen. Petraeus is no more believable on Iraq than George W. Bush. He may wear the uniform but, like Colin Powell before him, David Petraeus will betray us.

Bill Press is host of a nationally syndicated radio show and author of a new book, "How the Republicans Stole Religion." His email address is: bill@billpress.com. His Web site is: www.billpress.com. © 2007 Tribune Media Services, Inc.