No Patience For Petraeus Or Victory

Maybe they're annoyed that most Americans trust the military... more than the politicians, at least. (H/T Hot Air).

Or perhaps they fear what he has to say (More likely they want to steal the spotlight).

But as Ed Morissey asks, just who exactly is betraying us?

Using a schoolyard manipulation of General David Petraeus’ last name, MoveOn asked in a full-page advertisement whether this honorable commander would betray
his nation for the sake of a temporary political advantage. Calling the MNF-I commander “Betray-Us”, the Democratic activist organization accused the general of deliberately misreporting the results of the war effort to boost the Bush administration.

At Heading Right, I question who's betraying whom. I question MoveOn's patriotism. I suggest that MoveOn and the Democrats who support the organization would gladly commit character assassination of the lowest order against a man who has served this nation for decades in such an honorable fashion that the Senate voted unanimously to give him command of our forces in Iraq just eight months ago.

If you ask some anti-war critics, Petraeus is not brave at all. On the contrary:

There were some brave and intrepid souls who endured every word of the six-anda-half hours of testimony before the House Armed Services and House Foreign Affairs Committees.

I do not consider defeatist cowards who are only interested in trying to promote Myths and falsehoods about progress in Iraq for their own political agenda, and to get their own politicians elected as brave souls. In fact, the sacrifice of your own country's honor for political gain is pathetic. Donald Kagan has more on the history of American defeatists... and why they (heh) lost:

They offer no plausible alternative to the current strategy and take no serious notice of the dreadful consequences of swift withdrawal. They seem to be panicked by the possibility of success and eager to bring about withdrawal and defeat before events make it too late.

Anti-war critics have no patience for victory. They don't even have patience for their own anti-war movement. (H/T Instapundit):

A well-known anti-war leader has gone public with the transcript of a private conference call that shows peace activists are exasperated with the Democratic congressional leadership and at a loss for a long-term strategy.

Not the first time the anti-war left has changed its mind. Glenn Reynolds:

I've noticed that the mantra has gone from "listen to the generals" to "stop hiding behind the generals." Whatever. Jules Crittenden has related thoughts.

It's ironic, Democrats are criticizing Maliki's government for its lack of unity, when they themselves lack unity: Democrats Deeply Divided Over Iraq. Or, if you're Chuck Schumer, you just whitewash your own words to pretend you never said what you said. "You are a coward, Senator!" says Gateway Pundit.

So their proxies must attack the General to deflect negative media attention from themselves:

Think "Progress": Petraeus Spent At Least 17 Days In August Flacking For Bush’s Escalation

And as Let Freedom Ring blog notes, Democrats themselves are not above attacking the General: Reid: Petraeus’ Testimony Is White House Spin

More on MoveOn from Michelle Malkin and Pat Dollard.