Petraeus Plays Politics: The General's E-Mail Scheming on Israel (Mondoweiss)

Sunday's media headlines are dominated by the soundbite of General David Petraeus, the new US commander in Afghanistan, on the conflict --- "We in it to win it" --- backed up by glowing references for his record, notably the supposed success of the "surge" under his supervision in Iraq in 2007/8.

Regular readers will know that I am a sceptic of Petraeus' well-crafted military reputation but am a great admirer of his political skills. So, amidst the weekend's cheerleading, I have noted an illuminating story from Mondoweiss.

In March EA noted an apparently dramatic stance by Petraeus warning that the US had to confront the Israel-Palestine issue, if necessary talking tough to West Jerusalem, if its broader policy from the Middle East to Central Asia was to be successful. Little did we know that, behind the scenes, Petraeus was putting out the message that he did not hold the views --- including the need for pressure on Israel --- set out in his written testimony to Congress:

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Last March General David Petraeus, then head of Central Command, sought to undercut his own testimony before the Senate Armed Services Committee that was critical of Israel by intriguing with a right-wing writer to put out a different story, in emails obtained by Mondoweiss.

The emails show Petraeus encouraging Max Boot of Commentary to write a story-- and offering the neoconservative writer choice details about his views on the Holocaust:

Does it help if folks know that I hosted Elie Wiesel and his wife at our quarters last Sun night?! And that I will be the speaker at the 65th anniversary of the liberation of the concentration camps in mid-Apr at the Capitol Dome...

Petraeus passed the emails along himself through carelessness last March. He pasted a Boot column from Commentary's blog into in an "FYI" email he sent to an activist who is highly critical of the U.S.'s special relationship with Israel. Some of the general's emails to Boot were attached to the bottom of the story. The activist, James Morris, shared the emails with me.

The tale:

Back on March 13, Mark Perry broke the explosive story that Gen. David Petraeus was echoing Joe Biden's view that the special relationship with Israel is endangering Americans. Perry said that Petraeus had sent aides to the head of the Joint Chiefs of Staff in the White House to tell him that the U.S.'s inability to stand up to Israel was hurting Americans across the Middle East. Perry reported that Petraeus was asking that Israel and Palestine be included under his Central Command (rather than under Europe, as they are now).

On March 16, neocon Max Boot, who is on the Council of Foreign Relations and holds militarist pro-Israel views (he's an American Jew born in Russia), sought to refute Perry's post at the Commentary blog:

I asked a military officer who is familiar with the briefing in question and with Petraeus’s thinking on the issue to clarify matters. He told me that Perry’s item was "incorrect".

Boot quoted the unnamed officer at some length apologizing for Israel:

He did not suggest that Petraeus was mainly blaming Israel and its settlements for the lack of progress. They are, he said, “one of many issues, among which also is the unwillingness to recognize Israel and the unwillingness to confront the extremists who threaten Israelis.” That’s about what I expected: Petraeus holds a much more realistic and nuanced view than the one attributed to him by terrorist groupie Mark Perry.

I suspect this unnamed officer was Petraeus himself-- based on the emails. But we'll get to them in a minute.

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