Mitchell: Petraeus Held Closed-Door Strategy Meeting With Republican Caucus

[zimv20]

link (http://thinkprogress.org/2007/04/01/petraeus-caucus/)


This morning on the Chris Matthews Show, NBC News’ Andrea Mitchell revealed that Gen. David Petraeus, the top U.S. commander in Iraq, met “very recently” with the Senate Republican caucus to discuss their strategy on Iraq legislation.

“Petraeus went to the Republican caucus and told them, I will have real progress to you by August,” Mitchell said. The Republicans claim they told him that after August, they will end their support for the war. “They have told him at a caucus meeting as very, very recently, that if there isn’t progress by August — and real progress means not a day of violence and a day of sanity — that they will pull the plug.”

Stunningly, Mitchell said that “moderate Republican” senators had told her that they didn’t believe the escalation would work but voted for it anyway. “They really are not in favor of the surge. They don’t believe it’s going to work. But they basically said the president has until August, until Labor Day. After that, if it doesn’t work, they’re running.”

video and transcript on that page.

[IJ Reilly]

So, all bets are covered?

[zimv20]

they were before the war before they were against it, i guess.

-- or --

albeit slowly and way late, reality-based decision making returns to the GOP?

[leekohler]

There are going to be a lot of Republican politicians looking for real jobs soon. :)

[solvs]

Well, kinda... (http://www.crooksandliars.com/2007/04/03/andrea-mitchell-issues-a-kinda-sorta-correction/)
On Sunday's "Chris Matthews Show," Andrea Mitchell said that General Petraeus "very recently" held a closed-door strategy meeting with the Republican caucus where they said that if by August there was no significant progress, they would abandon their support for the war. If true, as Salon's Joan Walsh has noted, this would obviously be very significant — the top US general politically strategizing with the GOP. During yesterday's "Hardball," without mentioning what she said on Sunday, Mitchell revised her account of this meeting, saying that Petraeus spoke with Senators of both parties.

Which account is true is hard to tell, but her revisionism (and Chris Matthews' setup) seems suspect considering the segment had to do with Q1 fundraising numbers. The Petraeus mention came out of the blue and Mitchell conspicuously began her reponse by saying "It's a good thing you bring that up…"
And nobody get all huffy because it's C&L. They're the first ones I could find that had the video and somewhat of a rundown. I'm sure Media Matters has it too, but their commentary often leaves something to be desired.