Petraeus: I will 'never' run for office

Posted: Thursday, April 10, 2008 3:16 PM by Domenico Montanaro
Filed Under: Security

From NBC's Domenico Montanaro
In an interview with NBC's Brian Williams to air tonight on NBC Nightly News, Gen. David Petraeus says he will "never" run for or hold public office.

"And I've tried to say that on a number of occasions," Petraeus said. "Some folks have reminded me of a country western song that says, 'What part of no, don't you understand?'"

Williams also asked, "In your job, you give orders, you also take them from your Commander in Chief. And if your commander in chief said 'get out,' could you carry that out?

Petraeus: "Absolutely. Again, we raise our right hand; we swear to support and defend the Constitution of the United States. One of the principles enshrined in the way we do business in the United States is civilian control of the military. There is also responsibility on the part of a commander, of course, to discuss what risks are associated with various courses of action. And I firmly believe whoever it is that is elected in the fall, will sit down and look at the various interests, try to figure out the competing risks, because there are risks beyond Iraq."

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Comments

Petraeus won't run for office! Oh what a shame. What are we to do? The Bushman puppet won't favor us with his talent.

Brother Odd (Sent Thursday, April 10, 2008 3:28 PM)

A great general. He is doing his job and doing it well. That is what he is suppose to do.

God's blessings on your and our troops.

No, I don't support the war but I do support our troops. They are asked to do a tough job and they are doing it.

Delores Rose-Kennedy in Tennessee (Sent Thursday, April 10, 2008 3:33 PM)

yawn

pat huntington ny (Sent Thursday, April 10, 2008 3:33 PM)

Wish I could agree that Petraeus is a great General. Admiral Fallon himself called him a "psychophant". (Polite word for a "kiss ass").

JohnnyU, WA State (Sent Thursday, April 10, 2008 3:42 PM)

"And I firmly believe whoever it is that is elected in the fall, will sit down and look at the various interests, try to figure out the competing risks, because there are risks beyond Iraq."
- Patreus

I think he just opened the door...
At least, we know he is not an a$$ Kisser. That last sentence is the absolute truth. To almost quote obama, we have to be as careful coming out as we were going in.

Enough Said!

Dboy, Chicago (Sent Thursday, April 10, 2008 3:46 PM)

Seems like a good man, not getting in the goo make that all the more apparent.

z sd (Sent Thursday, April 10, 2008 3:50 PM)

And Nixon foreswore politics after losing the run for California Governor.
Right.

Expelliarmus, OH (Sent Thursday, April 10, 2008 3:51 PM)

DAVID PETRAEUS FOR '08.

TEXAN (Sent Thursday, April 10, 2008 3:52 PM)

And if Bush/Cheney ordered torture or kill innocents or extend the mission while sitting up and barking like a dog, he'd do it also. This guy is nothing but a military puppet.

Brian, Cedar Hill, TX (Sent Thursday, April 10, 2008 3:54 PM)

Thank you Jesus.

One has to wonder about these officers who blindly in lock step follow the party line. How they only see what they want,yet making sure at the same time that by doing so, they can retire with fat pensions.

The troops, who are the boots on the ground end up with little or nothing. They are the ones who are the best.

gmhussein, jupiter fl (Sent Thursday, April 10, 2008 3:57 PM)

Come on guys, when you take the oath of office to become an officer in the military, what you are really saying is "how high?" when you're told to jump. If you're told to take the hill, you do everything in your power to take the hill. If it wasn't for this man Iraq would be ten times worse than it is today, and no matter which side of the argument you're on, that is never a good thing. He is one of the best military minds of his generation, and he was tasked with an extremely difficult mission and has done very well. He understands more than anyone how our military fights today, but he's stuck in a bad situation that he must succeed in.

Oh yeah, OBAMA '08

Matt from Iraq (Sent Thursday, April 10, 2008 3:58 PM)

Uh, this is news?

MI Chick (Sent Thursday, April 10, 2008 4:04 PM)

Considering that the average liberal has the intellectual capacity of a well matured mollusc, I'm not surprised by these comments critical of Petraeus.

Petraeus represents the best that America has to offer. I watched every minute of his testimony. A fantastic officer. A gentleman and a scholar.

(With due apologies to the Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Invertebrates)

Mr. Moderate (Sent Thursday, April 10, 2008 4:05 PM)

Whether one agrees with Gen. Petraus or not, it is clear that he is extremely intelligent, very straightforward, and polite almost to a fault. He is quite right, it seems to me, not to want to run for public office, because his evident brilliance would never allow him to take the kind of black-and-white positions, without any grey, that public office holders are generally forced to take. He'd be much better in some important teaching job in a first class university. Smart guy!!!

Keith Glegg, L'Orignal, Ontario, Canada (Sent Thursday, April 10, 2008 4:08 PM)

Domenico,

(this is for Chuck Todd)... I am a newcomer who started following politics after Obama's Iowa win and I have to say politics is really interesting, more interesting than I ever gave it credit for.

Having said that, as I watched the Senate testimonies on Tuesday (I watched the full event), my recently acquired political skills told me that General P was polishing himself as a future candidate (for something). I was particularly happy when you, Chuck, pointed that out the other day. I don't care what he says now, that man (Gen P) has a plan in mind. He was not answering those questions as a man describing or even justifying his job and responsibilities, but rather as a man with future jobs in mind.

It was very interesting to see that the man had no qualms about giving political answers to specific, strategic questions about his JOB. In fact, I was very sympathetic to Crocker (sp?) as he seemed very alone in trying to communicate the realities in Iraq. They could very easily swap roles with Gen P taking on the political task and Crocker the [physical] strategies. Anyways, I hope the media keeps tabs on how General Petraeus is [mis]handling matters in Iraq and whether his blatant ambitions are having an impact on how this Iraq thing is conducted.

New Comer (Sent Thursday, April 10, 2008 4:10 PM)

I guess the poor guy thought we might actually want him to since we were stupid enough to put that BUSH BUNCH in the White House.

One thing for sure, he couldn't possibly be worst.

Linda (Sent Thursday, April 10, 2008 4:12 PM)

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votenic (Sent Thursday, April 10, 2008 4:24 PM)

if only we could lose, and lose big all would be good until they cut my head off with a chainsaw...oh that

e leary (Sent Thursday, April 10, 2008 4:24 PM)

WAIT TO SEE THE POLLS AFTER THE AVERAGE JO SEES OBAMA AND THE ANTI-AMERICAN PASTOR WRIGHT ON TV 24/7.

TEXAN (Sent Thursday, April 10, 2008 4:25 PM)

Haha. I don't blame him... having to do Dubya's dirty work taught him a thing or two.

Dina, College Park, MD (Sent Thursday, April 10, 2008 4:28 PM)

Gen. Betrayus. How you are able to live with your self right now amazes me. I see a lot of better men who opted to seperate from their career as opposed to kissing the @ss of a monkey.

Pacheck, Huntington Beach, Ca. (Sent Thursday, April 10, 2008 4:31 PM)

I'm no fan of this war, but the vile way people talk about General Petraeus (Obama supporters MoveOn.org in particular) is disgusting. It's not this man's job to oppose the war or get involved in the politics of it all.

Matt, Phila, Pa (Sent Thursday, April 10, 2008 4:32 PM)

I am sure every time Petraeus has to justify Bush's war, he has to take a shower afterwards.

Pat Huntington NY (Sent Thursday, April 10, 2008 4:47 PM)

All of these nasty comments towards an honorable man exposes the lengths as to which our homegrown enemies will go. What a sad lot. So much for supporting the soldiers. Yes I DO QUESTION YOUR PATRIOTISM.

Jim Ohio (Sent Thursday, April 10, 2008 5:55 PM)

Gen. Petraeus is a class act. The same cannot be said of many of his critics and those who slander him above.

R Dale (Sent Thursday, April 10, 2008 6:18 PM)

people here say support the trrops...but apparantly that ony applies to the privtes and, pardon the dispicable term i am about to use because i cannot think of another one, "grunts". I find this all hypocritical. If you are going to support our troops, you better be able to support the generals that are IN Iraq as well.

I myself applaud Petraeus. Shame on the lot of you

Crystal, Tx (Sent Thursday, April 10, 2008 6:54 PM)

He doesn't have to seek a political position; he is already in one. Bush had to knock 2 or 3 generals out of the way and reach down past a couple of others to find someone who would say what Bush wanted to hear about the Iraq war. Am I the only one who finds it strange that the top people running the war aren't the ones being questioned? Has anyone heard from the war czar lately?

nuanced (Sent Thursday, April 10, 2008 10:25 PM)

The military brass are no longer heroes, but lapdogs who waste the public money, retire, and become executives in the defense companies. Eventually, the Pentagon and its massive structure will bankrupt America just as Rome bankrupted itself all in the spirit Hail to the Chief! In the meantime, over 700 military installations and bases around the world monitor third rate nations, engage them in battle, and continue to strip these small nations of natural resources that Americans need to survive, then call themselves heroes. The American military, under Roman generals like Petraeus, sack, pillage, and destroy other cultures and small countries like the perennial bully in the schoolyard. The generals who have retired and who speak out against Bush's bully pulpit are the real heroes. Ironically, the street fighters in Iraq have no air force, no navy, and no military bases, and still outwit American forces. Who is "surging" who?

Dennis, Folsom CA (Sent Friday, April 11, 2008 1:05 AM)

Just so long as he's not given a civilian position and retains his military uniform and status like (gestapo like) CIA director Hayden. Petraeus is serving honorably unlike his commander in chief "duh b yah".

bill, okla (Sent Friday, April 11, 2008 8:44 AM)

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