Bush's Buddy "Betrayus"

According in an article yesterday in the Washington Post, Bush has bypassed several levels of the military chain of command to give Petraeus unprecedented advisory status in White House deliberations over Iraq and the Middle East.

Charmain of the Armed Services Committee Senator Carl Levin has protested, saying that Bush should rely primarily on the advice of Def. Sec. Robert M. Gates and Admiral Michael Mullen, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Levin said “not only are they Petraeus’ superiors, but they have the broad view of our national security needs, including Afghanistan, and the risks posed by stretching our force too thin.”

Kenneth Adelman, a Reagan era official who parted company with longtime friends Rumsfeld and Cheney over disagreements about the Iraq war said, “It’s part of Bush’s overall management style - to cede responsibility to a lower level and not look carefully at critical issues himself.

Members of the Joint Chiefs of Staff are reported to be uneasy with the Bush-Petraeus arrangement, and are concerned with the strain Bush is putting on the military. But for the time being, they’re keeping quiet.

A couple recent developments might explain why Bush has elevated Petraeus to right-hand man status. This weekend, AP news reported that that Defense Sec. Robert Gates reaffirmed the policy of resolving the conflict with Iran’s nuclear program diplomatically.

By contrast, British Newsgroup Telegraph UK reports that British officials are warning that General Petraeus will declare that Iran is waging war against the US-backed Iraqi government when he testifies in Washington this week.

According to a British official, “Petraeus is going to go very hard on Iran as the soruce of attacks on the American effort in Iraq . The article cites a Whitehall Assessment that asserts a strong statement from Petraeus could set the stage for a US attack on Iranian military facilities.

Don’t expect Petraeus to mention the fact that Iran was instrumental in convincing Al-Sadr to broker a truce this week between the Iraqi government and the Shiite cleric. Even though Al Sadr humiliated Iraqi forces in Basra, Iran helped convince Al Sadr to order his men off the streets and end the attacks.

So pay attention this week to Petraeus’ testimony on Capitol Hill, because he is expected heap more undeserved blame on Iran and help the Bush regime get their next war.

A couple more ominous developments increasing tension between the US and Iran:

• Offering an appetizer of sorts to Petraeus’ anticipated saber rattling, Agence France Presse reports that Israeli National Infrastructure Minister Benjamin Ben-Eliezer warned on Monday that Israel would respond to any Iranian attack by destroying that country.
  
  
• Iran said on Saturday it would press ahead with plans to expand their nuclear program. Iranian Pres. Mahmoud Ahmedinejad has rejected a package of UN incentives aimed and persuading Iran to halt their nuclear enrichment program.
  
  
• As if that weren’t enough to piss off the Bush administration, the AP reported yesterday that Ahmedinejad is urging OPEC members to form a joint bank and stop pricing oil trades in American dollars. This, and not Iran’s nuclear program, is most probably the real reason the Bush administration’s posture toward Iran is so hostile.