Petraeus to be promoted for being best liar

More unequal treatment for officers vs. enlisted

Petraeus faints from dehydration; another major punishable offense for enlisted soldiers.

In August 2010, General David Petraeus told media outlets exactly what his handlers in Washington wanted him to say. He spoke about the supposedly “groundbreaking” achievements of Special Forces in fighting against the people of Afghanistan. Petraeus reported that from May to July of that year, Special Forces captured around 1,400 “Taliban” and killed another 1,031. The grand total for the rest of that year leading to December was 4,100 Taliban captured. The problem with these figures is that they are all lies.

If a total of 4,100 Taliban fighters were captured, why were 90 percent of them released within days of being detained?

The answer is simple: because the U.S. military found them all to be innocent civilians. But that did not stop General Petraeus from lying to the world, bragging about his precious COIN (counterinsurgency) strategy.

This lie was used to tout U.S. “success” in Afghanistan and to falsely indicate that the Taliban is being defeated, smashed into the ground.

This begs the question: If 90 percent of those captured turned out to be civilians, what percentage of those killed were innocent civilians as well?

Petraeus, we should remember, is the same man who blamed Afghan families whose children were slaughtered in a NATO air strike of mutilating and burning their own kids to try to “make the U.S. look bad.”

So now we know that this officer has lied several times—and not small lies either. He has provided false information about 90 percent of thousands of detainees—not to mention conjuring up a disgusting, racist myth attempting to paint the Afghan people as brutal savages in order to cover up the reckless actions of battlefield commanders.

He gave false reports with the goal of manipulating the U.S. media and convincing the people that we are winning and should keep “pushing forward”—meaning, we should keep fighting and dying endlessly in Afghanistan. 

So, what is his punishment for knowingly spreading false information? Well, he was nominated to be the director of the CIA by President Barack Obama.

Is this shocking? It should not be, after all these wars were based on lies to begin with, and have continued with more lies. So why should not the most capable liar be given such a position?

But what happens if an enlisted soldier gives a false report?

If enlisted soldiers give false reports, or lose their equipment, or commit even the most insignificant infractions, they are punished harshly. The reality is that this military does not care about standards or rules or any of the “Army values” when it comes to the officer corps. But when soldiers attempt to organize to demand fair treatment and health care, slightly deviating from what the officers deem to be “Army values,” they are smashed to the ground.

If soldiers give false reports in combat they are demoted and punished. But if you are General Petraeus, you are nominated for director of the CIA. See how this works?

The hypocrisy is on full display for all to see. This is why we need to band together and look out for our interests, not theirs. By “our” we mean enlisted service members, and by “theirs” we mean the officer corps and their masters on Wall Street.

The officers and the Pentagon like to throw words at us like “Bravery and Honor” as they lie about what we are fighting for; because the reality is that we are fighting and dying not to preserve our way of life, but to continue theirs.

We have fought their fights and wars for too long, given too many of our lives and limbs for their careers and Wall Street dividends. The actions of this government and General Petraeus make the drawn line even clearer. Which side are you on?

Click here to read about the unequal treatment for General McChrystal.