The Ghostwriter

Lieberman on Petraeus, July 17 2007:

HANNITY: Congress' approval rating now that Harry Reid and Nancy Pelosi have been in power is now at an all-time low in the history of poll taking at 16 percent. We have been through non-binding resolutions, we have been through the idea that Petraeus was appointed unanimously. Harry Reid at the time said trust the generals. The surge was approved. We're not supposed to get the full report until September.

Why did they decide do this now, considering they were supposed to give General Petraeus that time?

LIEBERMAN: There is no good reason to have this vote and this series of votes now. I know the war is unpopular. I know that there is pressure within different constituencies to do something. But Sean, what you said is basically right. We adopted a law in May that set a series of benchmarks. First the interim report last week.

But it was clear to everybody - I would say the Senate, the Congress made an institutional pledge to General Petraeus and incidentally to every man and woman in uniform -- they made a pledge to have every man and woman in Iraq that we would wait until September when he and Ambassador Crocker come back to report to us to make judgments about how the surge is going...

Shays on Petraeus, July 19th:

KING: Well, you say we don't have the force structure. What should be done in the short term, then, if we don't have the force structure?

And as you await that report in September, I know you're just back from I believe your 17th trip in Iraq recently. And you sent this letter that I have here to Secretary Gates in which you think the Iraq Study Group should be reconstituted so that you have an independent assessment once General Petraeus comes forth with that report in September.

Do you, sir, simply not trust that you will get an independent or an unbiased report from General Petraeus?

SHAYS: No, I think we'll get a very accurate report from General Petraeus....

Olbermann on Petraeus August 16 2007.

Buried in a L.A. Times article was the statement that the Petraeus Report will not be written by Gen. Petraeus but by the White House instead.