Petraeus: America Safer? "I don't know."

Virginia Senator John Warner asked General Petraeus if victory in Iraq will make America safer. Petraeus, seen here, admitted, "I don't know."

Was it just a softball question from the Republican Senator, giving Petraeus a chance to shout praises for the Bush Iraq policy, and Petraeus missed his cue? Or is he honest?

It's the President's job to determine the global strategy, he hinted, and his job is merely to implement the military tactics that the President believes will carry out that strategy. The General is just "doing his job," "just following orders," even if those orders will not accomplish any lasting good (or even a temporary good). He's focused on his local objective, which is . . . I don't know, maybe he does . . . kill all al Qaeda members, I guess, and wait for new ones to pour into Iraq to fight the infidel oppressors who are there in Iraq waiting for the terrorists to come. I guess this is the general's objective.

I'm sure some will reply that his objective is to "bring democracy to Iraq." But Petraeus' means to this end are soldiers, guns, and bombs. Undoubtedly neither General Petraeus nor President Bush agrees with America's Founding Fathers in their belief that "free government" is the product of Christian morality.

Significantly, Petraeus admits he doesn't know if the military objective Bush has ordered will actually make America safer. Perhaps Petraeus doesn't "know" this because any non-partisan disciple of Christ could see that the military occupation of Iraq is only being used as an excuse for terrorists to pursue terrorist acts against the U.S., making us less safe. The more determined we are to impose our will on the Middle East by military force, the more determined the terrorists will be to "resist the oppressors."

The War on Terrorism is giving terrorism an excuse to perpetuate itself.

"But if we withdraw from Iraq," I was told the other day, "America will eventually be converted to Islam."

There are few ways this can happen. First, Osama and his terrorists can invade the U.S. and overpower a nation that no longer understands the meaning of the Second Amendment. All 300 million of us. For some reason, I doubt this scenario.

Second, Osama and his terrorists run a slate of political candidates who win the popular vote and gain control over Congress and the White House, and immediately declare America to be an Islamic Theocracy under Sharia Law. For some reason, I doubt this scenario as well.

Third, Americans convert to Islam, a million a day, and America goes Islamic.

Name your favorite scenario for the Islamicization of America, and my response will be the same: What strategy does Jesus advocate to prevent such an event, and what policies does He require of us if it does take place? Can we bomb or shoot a million civilians in Iraq to prevent it? If millions of American join al Qaeda, can we shoot or bomb them?

"No, no," I'm told, "the terrorists will get a nuclear bomb from Iran and detonate it on American soil."

And our military occupation of a muslim nation makes this less likely?

And given the fact that Pakistan's CIA wired the money to alleged 9/11 mastermind Mohammed Atta, combined with the fact that Pakistan (not Iran) already has nuclear weapons, why is the Bush Administration gearing up for a coming war with Iran? Why not Pakistan?

Iraq was never a threat to America's safety, the real threats are being ignored, and our unconstitutional and unChristian military presence in Iraq is only enraging the terrorists.

This is why, when asked if the war in Iraq makes America safer, General Petraeus, the man anointed by President Bush to lead the forces in Iraq (and confirmed by the Senate, 81-0) had to answer, "I don't know." Complete honesty might have cost him his job.