The Confidence Builder

In a move designed to renew confidence in the nation's military mission in Afghanistan, General Petraeus appeared this morning in a pre-taped interview on 'Good Morning, America', stoking up enthusiasm for the effort to an all time high.   "I think-no commander ever is going to come out and say, ‘I'm confident that we can do this'," Petraeus said in response to George Stephanopoulos' question about whether we could maybe get out of the godforsaken country by 2014, please.   The General  noted that we had a 'reasonable prospect' of victory, but emphasized that "I don't think there are any sure things in this kind of endeavor.  And I wouldn't be honest with you and with the viewers if I didn't convey that."   "You know, honesty is the most important attribute that a good commander can possess," he continued. "Not to deemphasize intelligence, because that's important also. Without intelligence, you really wouldn't be able to come up with good strategy. So intelligence and honesty... Well, bravery, I suppose that goes without saying. It gets pretty scary out there sometimes. Those Taliban can be pretty frightening, not to mention the al-Qaeda, who are downright terrifying. Not to me personally, but still. Of course we've rooted out pretty much all of the al-Qaeda. They're hiding out in Pakistan because they're a little short in the bravery department. Honesty is extremely important, though, but I guess it ranks third behind intelligence and... Hold on a minute, George, I left out cunning. You can have the most intelligent strategy in the world, but you need more than a little cunning to execute it. And I guess I should throw in stamina. I mean, Christ, how long have we been fighting in that shit-hole now? Almost a decade, isn't it? Yeah, if it wasn't for stamina, I would have been out of there long ago. So like I said, intelligence, cunning, bravery, stamina and honesty are the most important attributes of a good commander. That, and the trust of the American people, although there's not a whole hell of a lot I can do about that one but be as honest as possible and admit that I have no idea if we're accomplishing anything at all in that corrupt little cesspool, but if we are, I can assure you that it all will have been worthwhile. Of course, I've got to admit that's a little bit of a value judgment on my part. Hey, just being honest here."