Is there anyone in this group who is so fucking stupid that he would lend money to someone he knows only from doing business with him, without getting as much as a signed IOU from him?
Well, your President seems to have done the equivalent with General Petraeus, according to a book by Jonathan Alter and referred to in an article by George Will:
<< . . . there’s the following exchange from
2009 between President Obama, General Petraeus, and Admiral Mullen about the escalation of the war in Afghanistan, taken from
The Promise: President Obama, Year One, Jonathan Alter’s book on Obama’s first year:
<<OBAMA "I want you to be honest with me. You can do this in 18 months?"
<<PETRAEUS: "Sir, I'm confident we can train and hand over to the ANA [Afghan National Army] in that time frame."
<<OBAMA: "If you can't do the things you say you can in 18 months, then no one is going to suggest we stay, right?"
<<PETRAEUS: "Yes, sir, in agreement."
<<MULLEN: "Yes, sir.">>
http://www.thenation.com/print/blog/getting-out-2011Beautiful, huh? An "exchange" between them, memorialized only by the professional reputation of Jonathan Alter.
Nothing in writing signed by the good general.
No public hearing to record the good general's words indelibly for posterity. Just an "exchange," one that happens to be vouched for by Jonathan Alter, hardly a rock-solid guarantor of credibility of anyone's word should push come to shove.
Obviously this fucking wimp has absolutely nothing in his hand when the time comes for Petraeus and Mullen to make good on their absurd and ludicrous promises. The usual bullshit (cut and run, sacrifices of our brave men and women, the trust of our brave Afghan allies, armchair generals inside the Beltway versus men in the front lines braving rocket fire and bombs, etc., etc., etc.) will be brought to bear on Obama and the same promises made all over again (anyone remember "the light at the end of the tunnel?") and the fucking wimp will once again cave in and let the atrocity continue for another year and a half or two years.
The military-industrial complex sure got their money's worth out of this clown. As did the insurance industry. As did the mining industry. As did the oil industry. Fuck him. I hope they amend the Constitution so George W. Bush can serve a third term.