Desperation to Destroy General Petraeus

If Moveon.org’s attempt to slime General Petraeus wasn’t bad enough, now the left’s desperation to slime him has reached even new lows with the Daily Kos claiming the general is wearing a fraudulent medal:

Resolved: General Petraeus is a Phony and a Propagandist

If the Army put out a phony story to make David Petraeus look like a combat hero, then he knew about it or he damn well had the responsibility to know. For a General to allow a sham story of combat valor about himself to be circulated is to counterfeit his own honor – and debase the coin of courage.

Without honor, he is not a soldier but a fraud, a scandal, a dishonest civil servant with a gun. His medals are lies – particularly and especially any medal for “valor”.

I don’t know General Petraeus. I have no malice against him. I wish he was just a soldier. I could thank him for his service and respect him. But I cannot help but conclude that David Petraeus has sold that service cheap – for ambition and Bush. [HT: LGF]

First of all I don’t know if this is the incident where Petraeus was awarded his Bronze Star with valor for, but the Daily Kos claims it is without providing any documentation at all. Seems that if you are going to accuse somebody of being a fraud you would at least have proof. The Daily Kos has none. Secondly the Daily Kos is claiming that Petraeus is wearing a fraudulent award similar to what happened with Admiral Jeremy Boorda that led to his suicide. For those not familiar with the military such as the keyboard commandoes at the Daily Kos all military awards are recorded on a DA638 form. Admiral Boorda’s V devices he wore on his uniform were not recorded in any military records a review board found out after the accusations. For Petraeus’ award to be fraudulent like Admiral Boorda than no DA638 form would have to exist awarding him the V device on his bronze star medal. Thus the Daily Kos’ claim that Petraeus’ bronze star with valor is equivalent to what happened to Boorda is utterly false as long as Petraeus’ Bronze Star with V device is recorded on a DA638.

If someone wants to see Petraeus’ DA638 all they need to do is file a freedom for information request. So why didn’t the Daily Kos do a freedom of information request before accusing General Petraeus of having a fraudulent award? Because the Daily Kos isn’t about finding out facts, it is about sliming people. So they post their story and the thousands of left wing blogs link to it and each other and than it become conventional wisdom within the leftistsphere that Petraeus is wearing a fraudulent award though no proof exists.

The Daily Kos is also claiming that if Petraeus’ bronze star with V device is documented than what he did wasn’t valorous in the opinion of the keyboard commandoes over at the Daily Kos. The Daily Kos is claiming that an incident on March 30, 2003 outside of Najaf, Iraq is what Petraeus was awarded his bronze star with V device for. Here is the published account by Rick Atkinson that the Daily Kos uses to sum up what happened that day:

Without warning a mortar round exploded forty yards to the southwest, very close to the SF gun trucks. Amazingly, no one was hurt, perhaps because the sand absorbed most of the blast. I ducked between two Humvees, while the three generals made a conspicuous show of nonchalance. “Getting fucking close huh? Better get out of the friggin’ intersection,” an SF soldier bellowed with what struck me as penetrating if unheeded wisdom. Fivecoat picked up a shell but tossed it away after concluding the steel shard would “bring me bad karma if I kept it.” Later, he noted in his green notebook the importance of looking “cool under mortar attack when around the SF.” [In the Company of Soldiers, Pages 205-206]

Once again since the Daily Kos can provide no documentation, I have no idea if this is the incident that General Petraeus was awarded his Bronze Star with Valor for or not. The Daily Kos is also claiming that the Army is inflating Petraeus’s award because Atkinson’s account differs from the account of what happened that day that two Army lieutenant colonel’s wrote about from soldier interviews:

Mortars at Checkpoint Charlie:
The American Soldier’s View of Senior Officers
American soldiers expect their senior leaders to exhibit physical courage and to face the dangers of combat without flinching. They have an informal network that passes information about leaders quickly, far beyond the immediate area of an incident. Nothing a senior officer does in combat is ever really hidden from his soldiers. They see. . . They hear. . . They know.
The details of one such incident involving several senior officers’ actions under fire were soon known across V Corps and positively affected the confidence and morale of soldiers far from the actual fighting. On 30 March, the 101st Airborne Division was assaulting through An Najaf. Mortar fire began impacting near a crowded road intersection known as Checkpoint Charlie. There was a group of senior officers and other personnel at the checkpoint, including the V Corps Commander, Lieutenant General Wallace, the 101st Airborne Division Commander, Major General Petraeus, the ADC-O, Brigadier General Freakley, and a special forces liaison team. The senior officers huddled around the hood of a HMMWV, using it as a desk while they discussed the ongoing battle.

The initial mortar rounds landed 300 meters away. Rounds started walking in at 100-meter intervals. The three general officers continued their hood-top meeting, seemingly oblivious to the creeping mortar fire. A round suddenly landed unannounced less than 30 meters away, causing everyone to jump a little. One sergeant recalled that generals backed up about 10 feet and continued with their business.

Without warning, a sudden burst of small-arms and automatic weapons fire broke out near the checkpoint. Lieutenant General Wallace and the other general officers moved immediately to the sound of the guns, with their MP squad security detachment running to keep up. Another mortar round landed not 20 yards away from them as they ran. Fortunately, none of the group was injured. The firefight ended quickly, and a Kiowa Warrior (armed reconnaissance helicopter) finally spotted the mortar tube and initiated a call for fire that destroyed it.

The story of the calm way with which the generals reacted circulated quickly among soldiers. The military policemen assigned to protect Lieutenant General Wallace told their comrades about it and it spread from there. That the corps commander was willing to put himself up so near the fighting, and that he and Major General Petraeus seemed to move to the fighting instinctively, impressed many of the soldiers who heard of it. They said that it gave them a high regard for Lieutenant General Wallace and made them admire him as a leader.

Compiled from soldier interviews
conducted by Lieutenant Colonel Dennis Cahill and
Lieutenant Colonel (retired) Arthur Durante

[Global Security.org]

The two stories are not so much different because they both talk about the mortar strike, but the two LTCs story goes further into what happened than what Atkinson wrote. Did the generals run to the sound of the guns? I don’t know but the easiest thing to do would be to ask them or Atkinson what happened. It is important to realize that the two LTCs wrote their account from soldier testimony. Did the soldiers exaggerate what happened? Once again I don’t know and neither does the Daily Kos. It is also important to realize that Petraeus did not write these accounts of what happened. If Petraeus wrote an account of what happened that wasn’t true is one thing, but somebody else writing something about him based off of soldier interviews is entirely different.

So is what happened worthy of the Bronze Star with Valor? Here is the criteria for being award a V device:

The Valor device denotes those individuals who were awarded a decoration in recognition of valorous act performed during direct combat with an enemy force. It may also denote an accomplishment of a heroic nature in direct support of operations against an enemy force. Generally, the Valor device is for specific heroic acts during or supporting direct combat with the enemy. The award must also be personally recommended by a superior and is not an automatic decoration or upgrade.

The key sentence here is the last one; Petraeus had to be recommended for the award by a superior officer. Whatever Petraeus did to get the V device was considered valorous enough by his superior officers to recommend and approve the medal for him. Petraeus did not put himself in for the award he just simply accepted an award his superiors recommended and approved for him just like any other soldier. Additionally the V device has to be supported with witness statements. So not only was Petraeus recommended and approved by his superiors but there should be witness statements to back it up.

Were there soldiers that did more valorous deeds that did not receive the Bronze Star with Valor? Absolutely. Once again it is up to superior officers to determine what constitutes valor and then recommend and approve soldiers with the appropriate paperwork and witness statements for the award. A little known fact is that the highest ratio of Bronze Stars with Valor issued is not from the Marines or the Army but from the Navy and Air Force:

While the awarding of the Medal of Honor has all but disappeared, another combat award — the Bronze Star — seems to be everywhere.

More than 68,000 Bronze Stars, the military’s fourth-highest combat award, have been given out since the start of the fighting in Afghanistan and Iraq. But some say the medal’s significance has been clouded by inconsistencies in how they are awarded among the different services.

The medal, first issued in 1944, was intended to recognize the sacrifices and hardships of combat grunts. But the lines have grayed between combat and noncombat dangers, especially in Iraq.

The Army and Marine Corps are doing most of the fighting in Iraq and suffering the greatest numbers of military deaths. But the Air Force and Navy lead the way in issuing Bronze Stars, based on the ratios of Bronze Stars to service-member deaths.

The Navy is awarding the Bronze Star with V device nearly 10 times more often than the Army and Marines, and the Air Force, about six times more often. [Kansas City Star]

Like I said before it is up to superior officers to recommend their subordinates for awards and clearly the Navy and Air Force have different standards compared to the Army and Marines. Also the Bronze Star is not as high of an award as a civilian thinks it is. Those of us in the military recommend there are a lot bronze stars out there and the ones with a V device pretty much separate those who were in combat from those who were in support roles though it is not true all the time because once again it is up to superiors to recommend it. Some superior officers are more stringent than others in giving out awards. I knew a commander that handed out the lowest award an Army Achievement Medal (AAM) like it was candy to his soldiers while I had another commander where it took an act of God to have him issue an AAM.

Plus if you read Atkinson’s book, which the people at the Daily Kos are unlikely to do you, Petraeus actually found himself in contact more than once with the enemy. Here is a couple of examples:

We watched infantrymen work their way toward the area at 5 PM, then heard the brisk report of machine gun and rifle fire. A pair of Kiowas, followed by two Apaches, swooped over the target, guns chattering. Perhaps a hundred yards to our left, a mortar round detonated in a brown geyser of dirt and smoke. Hodges’s artillery answered quickly. An Iraqi pushing a cart loaded with a battered suitcase and a propane tank hurried past us, fleeing the gunfire. [In the Company of Soldiers, Page 229]

_________________

“Where have you been?” Petraeus asked. “We didn’t now you were assaulting today,” the team leader replied. Petraeus rolled his eyes. “The guys we’re talking to say the Iraqis are tired, hungry, and ready to give up,” the SF soldier said. I heard a sharp whistle overhead – psshewww! then another. An SF sniper stretched out on the road with a high-powered scope; for several minutes he scrutinized a small farm six hundred yards to the north, but was unable to spot the shooter. [In the Company of Heroes, Page 251]

Additionally look at Petraeus’ biography:

David H. Petraeus – Four Star General

General George C. Marshall Award winner as the top graduate of the U.S. Army Command and General Staff College

U.S. military decorations
Defense Distinguished Service Medal
Distinguished Service Medal (with Oak Leaf Clusters)
Defense Superior Service Medal (with Oak Leaf Clusters)
Legion of Merit (with 3 Oak Leaf Clusters)
Bronze Star Medal (with “V” Device)
Defense Meritorious Service Medal
Meritorious Service Medal (with 2 Oak Leaf Clusters)
Joint Service Commendation Medal
Army Commendation Medal (with 2 Oak Leaf Clusters)
Joint Service Achievement Medal
Army Achievement Medal

U.S. unit awards
Joint Meritorious Unit Award (with 3 Oak Leaf Clusters)
Army Meritorious Unit Commendation
Army Superior Unit Award

U.S. non-military decorations
State Department Superior Honor Award

U.S. service (campaign) medals and service and training ribbons
National Defense Service Medal (with 2 Service Stars)
Global War on Terrorism Expeditionary Medal
Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal
Iraq Campaign Medal
Armed Forces Service Medal
Humanitarian Service Medal
Army Service Ribbon
Army Overseas Service Ribbon (with 2 Oak Leaf Clusters)

U.S. badges, patches and tabs
Combat Action Badge
Expert Infantryman Badge
Master Parachutist Badge
Air Assault Badge
Joint Chiefs of Staff Identification Badge
Army Staff Identification Badge
Ranger Tab
Multi-National Force—Iraq Patch
101st Airborne Division (Air Assault) Patch
Foreign military decorations
Gold Award of the Iraqi Order of the Date Palm

Foreign badges, patches and tabs
British Parachutist Badge
French Parachutist Badge
German Parachutist Badge

Non-U.S. service medals and ribbons
United Nations Mission in Haiti (UNMIH) Medal[33]
NATO Meritorious Service Medal

Why would he need to have himself issued a fraudulent award when he stacked with medals as it is?

As far as I can see General Petraeus did nothing wrong and simply accepted an award recommended to him from his superiors just like everyone else issued awards in the military. The Daily Kos can provide no documentation or even witness testimony to dispute Petraeus’ award. It is simply as I said before an attempt to spread disinformation about Petraeus in the leftistsphere. The leftists cannot find the “silver bullet” to kill Petraeus’ creditability with thus they are relying on a tactic of “death by a thousand cuts” by continuously coming up with unreliable bits of information to spread around the net to defame Petraeus with. The Admiral Faloon quote I debunked before, is an example of this. Another perfect example of this is if you go to the Wikipedia Talk page that discusses General Petraeus, you can see there is an organized effort on Wikipedia to publish the non-sourced information about Petraeus on there to slime him with.

The left is desperate to destory General Petraeus because they fear him. They know he is the one man that could prevent the United States from undergoing an embarrassing defeat in Iraq and thus they are pulling out all the stops to destroy him. I say this because no other US commander in Iraq has drawn the hate and venom that General Petraeus has from the leftistsphere. They are doing everything they can to equate Petraeus to General Westmoreland when the US military has already had their Westmoreland in Iraq. If the left want to use Vietnam analogies, Petraeus is than Iraq’s General Abrams and it scares them. The left has good reason to be afraid because General Petraeus’ strategy is showing signs of success and he has no holes for the left to exploit thus the reason they have to make stuff up to discredit him with. This is the most pathetic one yet. There will be many more to come.