BUSH CRITICIZES MOVE-ON.ORG AD ON PETRAEUS

Michael Abramowitz reports in today's The Washington Post that Mr. Bush condemned the MoveOn.org ad which questioned whether Gen. Petraeus is really "Gen. Be-tray-us."

Writes Abramowitz:

"President Bush today condemned the recent MoveOn.org advertisement that described Army Gen. David H. Petraeus as General "Betray-Us," voicing disappointment that leading Democrats had not denounced it as well.

"In his first public comments on the newspaper ad that appeared last week in the New York Times, Bush said more Democrats " are afraid of irritating a left wing group like Moveon.org . . . than they are of irritating the United States military. That was a sorry deal.""

Bush is trying to concoct a political argument where he stands besides and behind the U.S. military. Doesn't he know that in the United States the military is the servant of civilian authorities? This means civilians can criticize if they want generals and other military officers. Otherwise, if it were improper, the military would be the dictators of American society.

MoveOn's director responded to Bush's phony criticisms. Abramowitz writes:

"MoveOn.Org's executive director, Eli Pariser, reacted sharply to Bush's comments this morning. In an interview, he said: "What we think is disgusting and outrageous is that the president is more interested in political attacks than he is in an exit strategy that will get our troops home swiftly and quickly." "