In July, I wrote here about Brandon Friedman, a former infantry officer in the U.S. Army’s 101st Airborne Division in Afghanistan and Iraq who now serves as a senior advisor to VoteVets.org. I am reading the Dallas resident's new book, The War I Always Wanted: The Illusion of Glory and the Reality of War, but spent this morning reading something Friedman's written that's a little more to the top-o'-the-headlines: this item about David Petraeus, who was actually Friedman's commanding officer in the 101st in 2003.
And it's not the damning screed one would expect from a soldier who now opposes the war; indeed, Friedman takes issue with the MoveOn.org ad that accuses Petraeus of betraying the country. "It’s pretty over the top," Friedman writes. "It’s certainly not what I would have said. In fact, I wish they hadn’t done it." And the University of Texas at Dallas master's grad praises his former C.O. for his conduct in Iraq, where the 101st actually had some success in Mosul and Tal Afar. Then again, Friedman writes about that danged ad, "I'd rather see my allies cross a line being too aggressive rather than never crossing a line because they’re too passive. Or too afraid." --Robert Wilonsky
