Petraeus trumps Cheney

We have been needing someone to call Dick Cheney to account when he spouts off. A few pudits have begun doing so, usually not to his face however, because Cheney does most of his dissing before a friendly group (CPAP, Heritage Foundation, Fox News) or through daughter Liz as his mouthpiece.

Today, the perfect one came forward and trounced Cheney's position on torture and waterboarding.

Gen. David Petraeus appeared on Meet the Press and made a compelling case against torturing terrorists and advocated sticking to the methods authorized by the army field manual.

"I have always been on the record, in fact, since 2003, with the concept of living our values. And I think that whenever we've perhaps taken expedient measures, they've turned around and bitten us in the backside. We decided early on, in the 101st airborne division, we just said, we decided to obey the Geneva Conventions...

"In the cases where that is not true we end up paying a price for it, ultimately. . . .Abu Ghraib and other situations like that are non biodegradable. They don't go away. The enemy continues to beat you with them like a stick.

Petraeus also declared that the methods approved by army field manual, and now given the force of law by Congress, actually work. . As reported by Sam Stein on Huffington Post:

Petraeus wasn't done there. In another contrast with former Vice President Cheney -- as well as the vast majority of congressional Republicans -- he reiterated his support for closing Gitmo, albeit without a date-specific time frame. . . .

As he noted, Petraeus has held these views for some time, so it's not surprising to hear him say it again. What does stand out is how infrequently he is invoked in the political debate on torture and Gitmo. The Obama administration, after all, has the endorsement of one of the most respected military figures of the modern age on two key policy disputes. And rarely do they or others mention it.

Hmmm. That's true. Wonder why?

Ralph