There Is No David Petraeus

So the White House is now acting like General Petraeus was never going to write the September report, when in fact practically every Republican Senator cautioned that we wait for "General Petraeus to deliver his report."

And the White House apparently tried to get Petraeus to give hearings to Congress in secret instead of in public session.

Senior congressional aides said yesterday that the White House has proposed limiting the much-anticipated appearance on Capitol Hill next month of Gen. David H. Petraeus and Ambassador Ryan C. Crocker to a private congressional briefing, suggesting instead that the Bush administration's progress report on the Iraq war should be delivered to Congress by the secretaries of state and defense.

White House officials did not deny making the proposal in informal talks with Congress, but they said yesterday that they will not shield the commanding general in Iraq and the senior U.S. diplomat there from public congressional testimony required by the war-funding legislation President Bush signed in May. "The administration plans to follow the requirements of the legislation," National Security Council spokesman Gordon Johndroe said in response to questions yesterday.

What's going on here? The White House doesn't want Petraeus publicly involved with the report. Do they think he's going to give a little too mch truth? Do they not want his credibility assailed by having to peddle a political document to the Congress? Or is it simply a bit of message control?

Probably all three.