VFF's Person of Year: David Petraeus

General David Petraeus, who earlier this year made complete fools of his inquisitors in Congress, is Vets For Freedom organization "Person of the Year". The amazing success of the troop surge under his leadership has even the blatantly liberal Washington Post taking notice. (". It’s looking more and more as though those in and outside of Congress who last month were assailing Gen. Petraeus’s credibility and insisting that there was no letup in Iraq’s bloodshed were - to put it simply - wrong.")

See Steady Habits (9/15/07) and Washington Post (12/8/07)

General Petraeus was also one of several runners-up in Time magazine's annual assessment of the most influential personages world wide, settling on V. Putin for the top spot. The VFF blog comments...

"Time magazine .... announced its pick for “man of the year” yet, but we certainly know ours: Gen. David Petraeus, commander of the multinational force in Iraq and architect of the surge strategy that is turning the tide in the war. Petraeus formulated a brilliant counterinsurgency plan. He executed it with care and diligence. And when much of the country didn’t want to notice the security gains that the surge had wrought, he took the national media spotlight to defend his strategy and his honor. In all this, he was nothing less than masterly."

How the Dem's Tune Doth Change (Murtha Version)

WASHINGTON - U.S. Rep. John Murtha today said he saw signs of military progress during a brief trip to Iraq last week, but he warned that Iraqis need to play a larger role in providing their own security and the Bush administration still must develop an exit strategy.

"I think the 'surge' is working," the Democrat said in a videoconference from his Johnstown office, describing the president's decision to commit more than 20,000 additional combat troops this year. But the Iraqis "have got to take care of themselves.
Source: http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/07333/837824-100.stm