A Real Confidence Builder

Gen. David Petreaus, one of the highest ranking soldier boys of the state’s defense monopoly, briefly collapsed while testifying before a Senate committee. Were the TV lights and imbecilic questioning from Senate fools just too intense? This certainly doesn’t inspire confidence in an institution that claims to be the superior fighting force of the world. It was dehydration, you say? So, the man who is directing a war of occupation and nation building does not have the common sense to drink water and keep himself hydrated?

Where’s the outcry? If BP’s Tony Heyward had suffered the same fate, there would be interminable discussion in the state controlled media about Heyward’s qualifications, and whether he can “handle the pressure” and is “up to the job.” But if an individual wears the state’s clown suit, adorned with a massive display of pretty ribbons and gaudy scrap medal, he is given a pass and shielded from criticism.

Is it any surprise that the institution Petraeus represents, despite having the most powerful and destructive arsenal in history, has difficulty (even after nine years) defeating an insurgency whose most ferocious weapons are crude, homemade bombs left on the side of the road? Heck, one of its top warriors can’t even take care of his own hydration needs!