House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Tom Lantos, a California Democrat said on Monday to General Petraeus "The administration has sent you here today to convince the members of these two committees and the Congress that victory is at hand... I don't buy it."

Number one, I can not believe that the Committee Chairman of Foreign Affairs can’t remember that it was Congress itself, not the President, which asked for a report on the status of the surge. Do they actually believe that an upstanding four star General, who the Senate approved for this post, would actually come before Congress and lie?

Number two, what does this Democrat from California not “buy?”

Does he not “buy” that the number of deaths in Iraq is down?

Does he not “buy” that the numbers of IED’s are down?

Congress is filled with politicians and the military is filled with, you guessed it, military personnel. If there is a war to be waged or if we are looking to find out the status of the war I would look to the military leaders before I would look to the politicians. They are the ones that understand the goings on of the fight.

General Petraeus has done an exemplary job and should be commended not condemned by this Congress. If people like Clinton, Obama, or even Mr. Lantos have an axe to grind with the Bush Administration then they should be man enough to stand up to the administration not to bad mouth a decorated military officer and waste his time sitting in open session listening to these people belittle a report that they have yet to hear.

Here is the Presentation that General Petraeus presented to Congress.

Here is General Petraeus’s report to Congress.

Here is Ambassador Crocker’s report to Congress.