As far as calling General Petraeus a traitor, despite some of the left's more absurd attempts to parse the language, MoveOn isn't shying away from the charge. The Politico reports that MoveOn's executive director had this to say about 'General Betray Us':
"Sometimes you have to call a spade a spade, even if it's a respected general."
But according to the Inter Press News Service Agency (IPS), that's hardly the worst thing that Petraeus has been called since assuming command of U.S. forces in Iraq. IPS reported yesterday that Admiral Fallon had, earlier this year, called Petraeus "an ass-kissing little chicken-shit"--to his face. Dean Barnett digs into this one:
What? You've never heard of this IPS and find yourself curious about who and what it is? IPS describes itself this way on its website: "IPS, civil society's leading news agency, is an independent voice from the South and for development, delving into globalisation for the stories underneath. Another communication is possible." I don't know what any of that means either, but I figure I'd share it with you and put it our there for deconstruction.
A couple of things about this IPS "scoop". IPS reported the alleged exchange on September 12, or yesterday to you and me. The alleged exchange occurred back in March. You also might wonder how IPS got this juicy nugget. Did Admiral Fallon put a call into the news agency renowned for "delving into globalization"? Hardly. IPS got the story from "Pentagon sources familiar with reports of the meeting." Mind you, IPS didn't just use just anonymous Pentagon source who might have seen the exchange. IPS relied on sources who not only didn't witness the exchange, but didn't even talk to people who witnessed the exchange. They were just "familiar with reports of the meeting." Allegedly.
Here's the kicker. Both Think Progress and the Daily Kos report IPS's "scoop" like it's a fact. Think Progress qualifies its reportage of Fallon's comment merely by saying, "Inter-Press Service suggests animosity between the two might be one reason for Fallon's absence" and then hits its readers with the quote. Think Progress does not bother to note the flimsiness of IPS's reporting, nor does it bother to say exactly who and what IPS is. Maybe IPS is a household name where "delving into globalisation" is de rigueur, but I doubt it.
Oh, the best part, Admiral Fallon apparently morphed into a 12-year-old after the alleged comment, adding "I hate people like that." Or at least that's what IPS's 'sources' say.
