“Malik Daoud†– King David! … Upon His Head The Crown Of A Warrior
I suppose it’s a bit odd, me being female, that my legends are mostly males in our ’species’ …
I can’t tell you how thrilled I was when Sally Ride became the first American female astronaut to ‘leave the surly bonds of Earth’ … As a matter of fact (if you recall my telling you I had planned to try to get into NASA after college … blah-blah-blah … life goes on.) as I stood and watched Sally’s flight lift off into space I really did cry … happy tears. Sally Ride became a ‘legend’ to me. And there are other women I have admired, but won’t list right now.
But years later I have to say that one ‘legend’ is quite prominent in my mind. Gen. David Petraeus.
In the face of the left’s, the MSM’s, and the democrats’ inside his own Congress, this man has kept his eye sharp on the mission and the goal, and strongly guided the men under him on that bumpy, political IED riddled road to success … a success the same filthy detractors refuse to properly acknowledge and give credit to OUR military who have fought, scraped, survived, died, and cried with their minds, bodies, hearts, souls, blood, sweat and tears to complete. This General … this man of men, had vision and focus. He knew it would be extremely tough and bloody … while being political fodder for the antiwar and political evil minions at home. He is the child that is abused by his very own family, yet prevails to prove himself so much stronger and righteous beyond all of [them] combined. He quietly and silently shames them all.
In last night’s post of Gen. Petraeu’s Farewell Letter as he moves onto higher ground in this war of the ages, a reader/commenter JewishOdysseus quoted the words that gave this post it’s title, and I looked into the source of the words: “Malik Daoud†– King David! and came up with this earlier column by Ralph Peters from January 2007.
There are those within our own government, political population, MSM, and even our civilian masses, that have refused to see this as a “religious war”. Well, it obviously IS for one side. But it is also possibly seen as such for those of that same culture who are allied with us against [those] who would use their own religion to wage such a war of slaughter and destruction in their own countries and in the world.
It is not unheard of, or beyond one’s imagination, that these brave souls of the Muslim faith would see such a man as Gen. David Petraeus as “King David” … who fought back and killed the murdering giant. He is a legend to them, and he is a legend to me … and I sincerely hope to one day be able to vote for him, not as a king, but as POTUS and CiC.
KING DAVID RETURNS: GEN. PETRAEUS’ NEW IRAQ TEST
by Ralph Paters - (NYPost - January 5, 2007)
January 5, 2007 – IT’S official: Dave Petraeus, one of the U.S. Army’s most- impressive leaders, is headed back to Baghdad to take charge. The assignment means a fourth star and the chance to save a desperate situation - or preside over a grim strategic failure.
With back-to-back tours of duty in Iraq behind him and the most-positive image among Iraqis of any U.S. leader, military or civilian, Petraeus is a natural choice. His intelligence, drive, devotion to service and negotiating skill make the lean, young-looking general seem perfect.
The question is whether Gen. Petraeus is the right choice - or if he’ll merely be the final executor of a failed policy.
The general has a winning public demeanor - when he led the 101st Airborne Division in northern Iraq in 2003, he proved such a superb diplomat that the Kurds called him “Malik Daoud” - King David - as a mark of respect. He listened patiently, spent money wisely, used force intelligently and truly did win hearts and minds.
He went on to tackle the reconstruction of Iraq’s security forces - no easy task, given the ruinous legacy of L. Paul Bremer’s term as viceroy. Where others had faltered, Petraeus appeared to succeed.
The Pentagon brought him back to Ft. Leavenworth for a breather - formally to imbue the Army’s educational system and doctrine production with knowledge from the front, but also to give him a break before he worked himself to death.
Petraeus is the sort of soldier who would have stayed on indefinitely in Iraq, setting aside all personal concerns in the interests of the mission. President Bush respects him and even the media admire him.
So what could possibly be doubtful about the choice of Gen. Petraeus to take over the leadership of our forces in Iraq?
Having known him - a bit - for years, I have unreserved respect for his talent and dedication, his quality of mind and selfless service. He’s the greatest peacekeeping general in the world. But I just don’t know if he can win a war.
Regaining control of Baghdad - after we threw it away - will require the defiant use of force. Negotiations won’t do it. Cultural awareness isn’t going to turn this situation around (we need to stop pandering to our enemies and defeat them, thanks). We insist it’s all about politics and try to placate everybody, while terrorists, insurgents and militias slaughter the innocent in the name of their god and their tribe.
Meanwhile, we’ve been pretending we’re not at war.
Our enemies aren’t pretending. They’re not only waging war with everything they’ve got, but reveling in breathtaking savagery. They’re no longer impressed when an American patrol zips by. They know they own the streets, not us. To them, we’re just military tourists anxious to go home.
In my contacts with Petraeus, we’ve sometimes agreed and sometimes argued. But we diverged profoundly on one point: The counterinsurgency doctrine produced under his direction remains far too mired in failed 20th-century models. Winning hearts and minds sounds great, but it’s useless when those hearts and minds turn up dead the next morning.
Gen. Petraeus truly is a brilliant talent. Faced with the reality of Iraq, he may be able to shake off the Pollyanna thinking in which our government and military have become mired. God knows, we all want the general to succeed.
The test will be straightforward: When his tour of duty in Baghdad ends, will unarmed Iraqis - and Americans - be able to walk the streets of Baghdad without fear? Or is our pathetic insistence that compromise can work in the Middle East going to lead to a tragedy beyond the imagination of politicians and pundits.
Will the general fight?
Of course, even three- or four-star generals can only do what our civilian leaders order and allow. Half of Petraeus’ struggle is going to be with Washington’s obsolete view of the world, with our persistent illusions about the Middle East and mankind.
The future of Iraq won’t be determined by Gen. Petraeus alone. But his will be the name historians cite when describing our ultimate success or failure in Iraq.
I hope Dave Petraeus will go down in the books as the soldier who saved the day. So let me presume to offer a great patriot one piece of advice:
Dave, be as tough on our enemies as you are on yourself. And Godspeed.
Ralph Peters’ latest book is “Never Quit The Fight.”
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