Unfortunately, the detractors also include a number of moronic Democrats.

How long before Rush Limbaugh brands him General Betrayus?

Good Ol' Betrayus - suck-up to the last.

Yellow Dog is right, this is political calculation. There's a reason his own troops gave him that name--his goal of self-promotion above all else.

Crazy, crazy, BATSHIT J. CRAY-ZEE that there's even a debate about which there are two sides on this. It's torture!

General David Petraeus said this past weekend that President Obama's decision to ... end harsh interrogation techniques would benefit the United States in the broader war on terror.

What happened to the mantra that these techniques ended in 2004?

On the other side, we have Newt Gingrich, Dick Cheney, Rush Limbaugh, and some craven members of Congress.

At least those guys are real Republicans. Men who believe in the righteous virtues of torture, especially when it's done to someone else.

This strikes me as a bit of a problem for the GOP. They've doubled down on Gitmo and torture. Do they now throw Petraeus under the bus or do they just STFU?

I'm just waiting for someone on the right to ask publicly why Gen. Petraeus hates America so much.

-Z

Now come on, be serious. You know full well that regardless of what you say, this thread is about to be trolled with endless variations on

"Anything Petraeus may or may not have said can only be used by Liberals if they first accept that this means that they also agree with everything he said when Bush was giving the orders, otherwise you're just being hypocrites, and so you lose. Ha!"

Followed by variations on

"And Petraeus didn't say anything wrong, because the Geneva Conventions don't apply to terrorists, anyway. So Petraeus was really slapping Nobama down for claiming otherwise to impress his Euroweenie pals, and you hypocrites are just trying to twist his words because you hate America and want to damage Petraeus' 2012 Republican candidacy."

They're just waiting for the Talking Points to come through, then they'll be right on it.

The military has always, and rightly, been very, very queasy about violations of the Geneva Conventions, because they know that such violations put our own troops at risk if they should be captured. The fact that the Thugs imagined the military brass would support torture (now that they no longer have a CinC who can order them to shut up about it) just underlines how completely fucking stupid (as well as evil) they are.

We all know that Cheney and Limbaugh know all about military matters, since they were both very brave in combat. But wait - Cheney had 5 deferments, he also hid in an underground bunker most of his time as VP. Rove also had his share of deferments, and is obviously a first class coward.

When did General Petraes start to hate the American people?

Petraeus works for Obama. It only makes sense that he would speak publicly in favor of Obama's policies. In fact, were he to speak publicly against his Commander in Chief's policies in the area of military strategy, Obama would essentially be obligated to ask for the General's resignation. We have civilian command and control of our military. Military leaders are not supposed to go off undermining their president, no matter whether they support him or not.

In other words, don't read too much into this.

Newt Gingrich, Dick Cheney, Rush Limbaugh are all Vietnam era draft dodgers. In wingnut world, that spells P-A-T-R-I-O-T.

Gates, Powell, Mullen and Petraeus served in the military. Worse, Powell, Mullen and Petraeus are career military. (Powell and Mullen served in the 'Nam and Petraeus in Bosnia, Haiti, and Iraq I and II.)

As we know, the second "refugee of scoundrels" (pseudo "patriotism" being the first)is military service. Draft-dodging--yet supporting war--is the truest sign of patriotism and integrity. Right Dick, Newtie and Rush (serial dodgers all)?

Plus, we know that when commanders agree with Bush, it is sincere. When commanders agree with a Democrat, Obama in particular, they are engaging in craven, political, careerism.

A quiet Badge of Honor links many of these military men speaking out against torture. It is a blue rifle and always is at the top of the fruit salad of ribbons on their tunic.

It is called the Combat Infantrymans Badge, and signifies that the wearer has been in combat. Can't get one any other way. Means they have shot and been shot at. Means they speak from experience on the topic of warfare.

Cheyney, Bush, Limbaugh, and the Faux News Brigade don't have one.

General Petreaus is an active duty general who reports to the Commander in Chief whether that be Obama or Bush. He has to support the President and if he doesn't the President could rightly (and probably would) ask for his resignation. This really doesn't mean anything.

I call BS on John at 4:17. I'm reasonably certain that someone of Petraeus' stature and political acumen could simply decline comment or defer to CINC if he didn't agree with the policy but felt duty-bound to appear to support it. His comments sound much more consistent with an actual agreement on the merits.

Closing Gitmo is a symbolic gesture for the weak minded. A supermax is probably hell in comparison.

It one thing to try the strategy of throwing enough crap against the wall and hoping something sticks, but it seems to me that the Republicans are so lame that they're having trouble even hitting the wall.