Katie Couric Says Gen. Petraeus Will Report Surge is Working

Katie Couric Says Gen. Petraeus Will Report Surge is Working

By Noel Sheppard (Bio | Archive)
September 2, 2007 - 18:04 ET

If CBS's Katie Couric is beginning to believe the surge is working, it seems that even the most liberal media member could be convinced.

With that in mind, Couric was Bob Schieffer's guest on Sunday's "Face the Nation," and after spending some time touring Iraq with Gen. David Petraeus, felt the General will be quite optimistic when he reports to Congress next week.

In fact, after Schieffer asked what Petraeus would say to lawmakers upon his return to Washington, Couric seemed quite impressed with what the General had showed her during her tour (video available here):

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Well, Bob, I think he's going to talk a lot about Anbar province, which is west of Baghdad, and an Anbar awakening if you will. He took me to Fallujah, which really he believes is a crowning achievement for U.S. forces in Iraq and a role model if you will.
Fallujah, if you remember Bob, was one of the deadliest cities in this country with terrible fighting. Those four contractors were murdered there. And U.S. forces actually were ordered to retreat from that city back in 2004. But what happened is al Qaeda came in, and tribal leaders realized they did not want to live under a brutal al Qaeda regime.
So, they enlisted the help of U.S. soldiers and U.S. troops because they realized they could not fight al Qaeda alone. So, suddenly these former enemies had a common enemy, worked together, and now Fallujah is relatively calm, reconstruction efforts are under way, and as I said, it is really being considered a crowning achievement. And this is just one city in Anbar province. Ramadi is another example of that as well, where Sunnis and U.S. forces are working together to really a great effect.

Pretty shocking, wouldn't you agree? But there was more, for after Schieffer asked, "Did you get that he is going to tell the president that he believes these extra troops, this so-called surge, is working, and that we have to leave it in place for a while," Couric responded:

I definitely got that impression. I think he concedes there's certainly areas of Iraq that are really difficult and are true trouble spots. Al Qaeda in the north, Shiite militias in the south of, of Baghdad. Still a lot of insurgency, and still a lot of sectarian violence even in Baghdad. But, I believe he thinks these are not just pockets of success, what I mentioned about Fallujah and Ramadi.
What he sees is a trend. And what he told me the trend is definitely going up rather than down, and to continue the progress he believes is being made so far, that the surge must continue, and the U.S., a full U.S. presence should be here. But he did talk about geometry on the battlefield, Bob, and about possibly drawing down some troops. But he thinks that certainly in these areas where the surge was needed, that it needs to continue.

Once again, if one of the most liberal newscasters on television is reporting a positive view by the General, others are sure to follow.

—Noel Sheppard is the Associate Editor of NewsBusters. Follow him at Facebook and Twitter.

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This just in...

September 2, 2007 - 18:18 ET by heldmyw

Snow in Hell, Pigs flying regular routes out of Mecca and reported soon to be carrying passengers and freight AND after the break, the secret Karl Rove and Nancy Pelosi love-nest revealed!

Also...

September 2, 2007 - 18:24 ET by Felicity Rand

And Bill Clinton just announced he's become celibate!

And John Kerry releases all

September 2, 2007 - 18:35 ET by zhombre

And John Kerry releases all his military records and concedes the Swift Boat vets were entitled to their opinions and actually did have a few valid points.

And it's NOT .

September 2, 2007 - 18:35 ET by FastEd

Bush's fault!

There is no sense in being stupid, if you can't prove it! - my dad V

And further more...

September 2, 2007 - 19:55 ET by goldenthroat

...and it has just been announced that Slick Willy is leaving politics and entering the priesthood.

"Yeah, that's the ticket!" - Tommy Flanagan

Browns win Superbowl!

September 3, 2007 - 01:30 ET by stratman

Browns win Superbowl! Browns win Superbowl!

Ok. That one's a little too farfetched. :-)

Killing them with kindness isn't working. Time to get scrappy with the Donkeys.

OMG!

September 3, 2007 - 17:59 ET by drillanwr

You just gave 99.99% of Cleveburgh a heart attack ...

Dennis Kucinich will now ask Cleveburgh be declared a federal disaster area and demands federal dollars to fund his cam- ... er ... to rebuild ...

Cleveland - the land of

September 4, 2007 - 02:11 ET by stratman

Cleveland - the land of "next year", a winning season is 8W-8L, and where "hope" is spelled "D-E-S-P-A-I-R".

But there is no better fan in the NFL than a Cleveland Browns fan.

Good riddance Art Modell.

Go Brownies!

Killing them with kindness isn't working. Time to get scrappy with the Donkeys.

Use Caution...

September 2, 2007 - 18:36 ET by Conservative_in_mass.

I am very cautious when it comes to optimistic statements made by the likes of "Perky-uric". These people are so disingenuous, anti military and anti Administration that it is very difficult to believe them.

Am I sounding too jaded? Maybe, but I've seen how they set up the strawman arguments so many times in the past that its hard to say for certain that they've seen the light.

Did Lucy ever NOT pull the ball away from Charlie Brown?

They want the credit

September 2, 2007 - 21:22 ET by general company

They are looking for an angle,,,,so they can take credit for all that is positive in Iraq and the WOT. They are ironing out the details as I type this. Just wait,, it's coming

They're setting things up

September 3, 2007 - 18:03 ET by TruthMonger

They're setting things up for the BUTcast in a few days...

NB is forever vigilant - we stand on a wall!!! Grrrr

Protest Craig's conservative abandonment - vote Democrat in 08'

No, but...

September 2, 2007 - 22:14 ET by Tom1969ca

Did Lucy ever NOT pull the ball away from Charlie Brown?

In one of the final Peanuts strips in early 2000 (when Schultz was consciously bringing closure to a lot of long-time running jokes), Lucy is about to 'hold' the football for Charlie Brown when her brother Linus comes out of the house to tell her she has a phone call. As she goes inside to take the call, she leaves her brother with strict instructions to yank the football away from Charlie Brown at the last moment. We see Charlie Brown running toward the football...

...at which point the scene cuts to inside the house. Lucy hangs up the phone as Linus walks in. "Did you pull the football away like I told you to?" she demands. Silence. Lucy continues to demand that he tell her that he pulled the football away, becoming more frantic with each asking of the question. Finally, Linus turns to us (the readers), half-smiles and says, "I'll never tell!"

~~~

If you don't stand behind our troops, feel free to stand in front of them!

Tom Thanks for the

September 2, 2007 - 23:08 ET by Conservative_in_mass.

Tom

Thanks for the info. Kind of ironic that it would be exactly something miss perky would do... Delegate the dirty work and get frantic about making sure her instructions were followed to the letter.

The whole reason the new

September 2, 2007 - 18:32 ET by bigtimer

The whole reason the new slick backed look Couric is there is because of this report.

Media hand in hand with the leftists are getting the long knives sharpened...

As if we didn't expect it anyway/

Btw..this is not going to help her deader than a door nail's ratings.

She is despicable...I heard her this morning on Meet the Depressed I think it was...despicable.

Was thinking the same

September 2, 2007 - 18:37 ET by FastEd

with ocntinued reports like this, she's gonna lose her credentials to sit in the anchor chair ( hum, wait, credentials?) Never mind.

There is no sense in being stupid, if you can't prove it! - my dad V

Not just another pretty face

September 2, 2007 - 18:51 ET by nkviking75

I think the slicked back look is calculated to make her look like a serious journalist who is not afraid to get her hands dirty and isn't just another pretty face.

Now that they think they know what Petraeus will say, they're probably calculating how to spin it to neutralize its impact.

When you put the clowns in charge, don't be surprised when a circus breaks out.

bt. don't you DARE comment

September 2, 2007 - 19:08 ET by motherbelt

bt. don't you DARE comment on her hair! How shallow ARE you??? LOL.

I think the perky one did it on purpose so people would (understandably) ask "What's up with the hair?" Then liberals could go off on a rant about everyone's preoccupation with Katie's hair and Hillary's cleavage, while the world is falling apart before our eyes.

Well mb... When I saw her

September 2, 2007 - 19:15 ET by bigtimer

Well mb...

When I saw her live this morning I started laughing...even though I was furious with her words...

Pulling her hair back...changing her eyebrows (earlier) ain't gonna' help the leftist twit or her ratings one bit...

Of course we all know the leftist politicians and the lefist enemy within are all about spin and agenda for defeat in any way possible with the upcoming Petraeus report.

She's actually trying to

September 3, 2007 - 08:23 ET by Seabeach4348

She's actually trying to look more like that egg-shaped dome on the mosque in the background...just to blend in.

Chuck from Tacoma The

September 3, 2007 - 17:06 ET by IRRRVERN

Chuck from Tacoma

The reason it is pulled back is so that she can claim her hair was on too tight. She did not know what she was saying.

Just remember: A liberals'

September 2, 2007 - 18:42 ET by Fairlight

Just remember: A liberals' favorite word is 'but'.

Couric's but - no not that one

September 2, 2007 - 18:48 ET by acumen

And here is the 'but' Fairlight.

hat tip to drillanwr

AC

September 2, 2007 - 19:08 ET by Noel Sheppard

AC,

I saw that earlier, and with all due respect to my friend Ian, I think if you look at the entire segment, this is a tremendously optimistic report. Yes, she made one kind of snide remark about what the military wanted her to see. However, look at her entire interview with Schieffer, and tell me whether that one line trumps everything else. ns

This could be good...

September 2, 2007 - 20:46 ET by BigB

I agree this is a tremedously optimistic report...It will be very interesting to see how/if the rest of the SmaKTard MSM follow suit...I'm sure they are gonna stick their big toes in the water just to see what it'll do for the next Newsweek Poll....

I don't know what would be more pathetic...ABC and NBC getting on the wagon because the distant 3rd place anchor blasphemed with good news from Iraq or Katie coming back and plopping her sorry, over paid ass back in the least watched network anchor chair to 'read' the same sorry blather....

Now, this might sting just a little bit.....

If (a huge qualifier to be

September 2, 2007 - 18:45 ET by SMGalbraith

If (a huge qualifier to be sure) the North Korean agreement holds and if (again, History is a fickle mistress) we can be successful in stabilizing Iraq, perhaps Rove is right: Bush is the Republican Truman.

Now, if only Iran could be solved.

SMG

I saw this about the

September 2, 2007 - 18:50 ET by bigtimer

I saw this about the problem Iran getting solved...of course this may be a trial balloon or warning who knows...

Sounds good to me either way...especially since Iran is bragging again....

Get 'er Done!

A comment on Iran

September 3, 2007 - 21:09 ET by SportPolitics

" Today's Iran talks about "wiping Israel off the map." Meanwhile they're enriching uranium - lets wait and see if it's just a coincidence!! If react after the mushroom cloud then we're morally justified, right? lol

JimC, Scottsdale, USA/AZ"

Yep, that's the lib plan. Let's wait and see, and we for now believe just the enemy that calls America " The Great Satan ".

They really mean they think of the USA like the libs think of the USA, so the libs see no problem at all. That's just a normal reaction.

That is not a joke, even though it may strike one as hilarious.

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/asia/article2369001.ece

Biden's Still In??

September 2, 2007 - 19:07 ET by BigB

Did anyone watch the rest of the video? Captain HairPlugs Biden comes on and Schieffer asks him the same question twice. "I know the Democrat postiton is for withdrawl of troops...I know you don't share this position....." The moron replies with things like 'The only place where things are working is where we have troops' and 'If we leave, it's just like pulling your fist out of a bucket of water, once it's gone it's like nothing happened'....And then goes on to say we need to get them out of there!! (just a little surprised he dint say 'get those kids' out)....Does this fool even listen to what is running out of his cake hole???

God Bless the people of Deleware....

Now, this might sting just a little bit.....

BigB... I did hear all of

September 2, 2007 - 19:19 ET by bigtimer

BigB...

I did hear all of that.

Your perspective is perfect.

Biden is an idiot.

Schieffer is too as far as I am concerned.

But heck they have a leftist purpose driven life.....the enemy works 24/7 within and without our country...in fact hand in hand as far as I am concerned.

Big: After reading your

September 2, 2007 - 19:33 ET by Conservative_in_mass.

Big:

After reading your quotes of Biden, all I could think of was John Belushi's character Bluto in movie "Animal House" where he had problems with the phrase "when the going gets tough <5 second pause to think> the tough get going!"

Don't know why that particular image popped in the ol' noggin, but it did.

BTW, Bluto appeared more intelligent than Biden.

I know I'm late to the

September 2, 2007 - 21:43 ET by motherbelt

I know I'm late to the party, but I can't resist:

He didn't acquire the nickname "Slow Joe" for no reason.

BigB, no I didn't, couldn't take even a few minutes

September 3, 2007 - 21:18 ET by SportPolitics

of it, but Biden makes me laugh, so now I guess I'll turn down the sound and wait for it to load up completely and scroll to the big doof segment.

Katie Off the Resevation

September 2, 2007 - 19:21 ET by Lame Cherry

CBS will never let Katie off the CBS reservation if the moment she gets with the local folks she starts talking like George Bush.

Cynthia Bowers was normal too on that Aircraft Carrier.....Koppel even acted normal in Iraq.
Perhaps CBS should have embedded that crowing Olberman jr. with Katie that CNN has sounding tough in the Green Zone to keep her on the liberal crooked and broad path.

*HIC IACET ARTORIVS REX QVONDAM REXQVE FVTVRVS

BTW...

September 2, 2007 - 19:32 ET by BigB

Ya know, it's nice to see Ms. Bubbly Talking Head say something positive about Iraq, but.....Why do we want to give any kind of creedence to this when 90% of what she 'reads' from the CBS anchor chair is libtard crap that usually ends up getting ripped to shreds on this very website???...

Further on in the clip she is in the market place saying how normal things appear...'But of course, this is what the Army wants me to see'....And of course, we also have the little clips of her plodding around the dusty streets in her vest and helmet in full 'Boots on the Ground' mode... No doubt to give her stupid ass some kind of credibility when she's back here taking a dump on the whole thing every night....

oh...and in all fairness...I think the reason her hair is all squashed is because she was parbly wearing her helmet...more 'street cred'

Now, this might sting just a little bit.....

....oh...and in all

September 2, 2007 - 19:43 ET by bigtimer

....oh...and in all fairness...I think the reason her hair is all squashed is because she was parbly wearing her helmet...more 'street cred'

I think you are CORRECT Big B....

Street cred or not...nothing is going to help that vast empty space between her leftist agenda driven ears...

LMAO...

Am I imagining things?

September 2, 2007 - 19:57 ET by goldenthroat

This shot of Kutie Katie looks like she is suffering from a severe case of indigestion - or maybe she is finally finding out that her left-coast, bleeding-heart 'do as I say, not as I do' reporting has been all wrong?

NAH! Don't bet on it!

Never dance on an empty stomach unless it's a liberal.

West Coast?

September 2, 2007 - 21:14 ET by Chaitealover

What's with blaming the west coast for Katie Couric? She was born & grew up in Virginia and now lives & works in New York.

She ain't ours & we don't want her [and a great many of us are not loony toon hollyweird liberals]

Those who would expect to reap the blessings of freedom must undergo the fatigue of supporting it - Thomas Paine

huh?

September 3, 2007 - 06:35 ET by goldenthroat

How did you get "West" out of "Left"?

Kinda..but...

September 2, 2007 - 19:52 ET by BigB

More like "...did we give up when the German's bombed Pearl Harbor?"

Now, this might sting just a little bit.....

Perkless one ready for a burka, with hair all slicked back, gag

September 2, 2007 - 20:01 ET by upcountrywater

I played that video link to cBS and no shots of Katie shopping in her burka, scarf, <barf> or whatever, whats up with that?

Entitlement over infrastructure every SINGLE time.

Thats a good

September 2, 2007 - 20:10 ET by Conservative_in_mass.

Thats a good question...whats with the semi see-through blouse too, aren't we afraid of offending someone?

Well...

September 2, 2007 - 20:26 ET by BigB

Whoa!!...Mebbe I was a little too quick with my 'In all Fairness' thing....mebbe she just got out of her burkinni/scarf/gunny sack...whatever...

Now, this might sting just a little bit.....

"So, suddenly these former

September 2, 2007 - 23:15 ET by robert108

"So, suddenly these former enemies had a common enemy, worked
together, and now Fallujah is relatively calm, reconstruction efforts
are under way, and as I said, it is really being considered a crowning
achievement."

Catch the spin? It's not that the "surge" is working, it's that the Iraqis are cooperating. Still no credit where it's due, and especially not anything the President is responsible for. More BDS from the MSM.

Holy Ayatollahs,

September 3, 2007 - 00:08 ET by wiwf

Holy Ayatollahs, Batman!

"Congressmen who willfully take actions during wartime that damage
morale and undermine the military are saboteurs and should be arrested,
exiled, or hanged." -Abraham Lincoln

NS do not be fooled by the lib Couric

September 3, 2007 - 01:26 ET by SportPolitics

NS, she is still over there.

She won't start her crybaby lying till she gets back. For now it's suck it up and play along, so she doesn't wear out her welcome. It's all "he said" stuff now.

As soon as her feet hit US soil, all hell will break loose from her pursed lips.

I think her survival

September 3, 2007 - 09:49 ET by Conservative_in_mass.

I think her survival instincts have kicked in. It makes no sense to spew her anti military, liberal agenda while she is being escorted and protected by the very people she and her "comrades" like to throw under the bus all the time.

It just goes to show you just how much class (along with courage) our military personnel have. God bless them...if its not facing a dangerous enemy, its having to protect these prima donnas on their "investigative journalism" junkets. These MSM jerks can't shine their shoes.

yeah, right

September 3, 2007 - 06:27 ET by DontFeedTheTrolls

Once again, if one of the most liberal
newscasters on television is reporting a positive view by the General,
others are sure to follow.

Somebody is an optimist.

Not me though.

Keep the ILLEGALS out, join NumbersUSA to send free faxes to your reps.

Well guys the surge must be

September 3, 2007 - 07:14 ET by Blazer

Well guys the surge must be working, and Katie knows it. That would explain why in the above pic Katie looks like she's having a surge of her own, and passing all of last nights nacho's, and beer.

"You will never find a more wretched hive of scum and villainy. We must be cautious. "

- Ben Kenobi on Liberals, and the MSM.

trailer park Katie?

September 3, 2007 - 08:51 ET by Mica the Magnificent

Katie has her hair pulled back because she remembers that John Kerry said if you don't study hard, go to college, you wind up in Iraq.

She was just trying to have that 'trailer-park-look' for the boys.

Reid, Pelosi, Murtha, all say:

September 3, 2007 - 07:21 ET by ThisnThat

"If we've lost Curic, we've lost America".

___________________________________

If you can read this, thank a teacher. If it is in English, thank a Soldier. - My barber

If The Surge Wasn't Working

September 3, 2007 - 10:22 ET by mattm

Would little lady Katie be there?

I'm going to be very

September 3, 2007 - 10:35 ET by charlietexas

I'm going to be very petty......is Katies hair line receding??

Mommy.

C. texas - geez!

September 3, 2007 - 11:07 ET by Mica the Magnificent

You're correct, charlietexas.

She's getting that early George Costanza look.

Not Receding

September 3, 2007 - 16:04 ET by JoelCT

Nope, still six inches from eyebrows to hairline, same as always.

http://members.aol.com/flopez1542/KatiePink.JPG

Amazing what happens...

September 3, 2007 - 11:09 ET by Edfromva

...when you actually go over there and see the truth.

Minority opinion….. I

September 3, 2007 - 14:55 ET by maggieqpublic

Minority opinion….. I still think Hillary has begun her “surge” to the middle. She and her closest MSM allies (Couric, et.al.) will co-opt General Petraeus.

(After all, Hillary and the MSM informed us all that an incompetent President was mismanaging the war in Iraq. And it was only after Hillary and the MSM opened our eyes to the fact that our President and his party cannot lead in wartime… that General Petraeus was selected to head up the operation.)

Hillary takes credit for the war’s positive turn and surges to the Oval Office with the assistance of Couric and the rest.

Maggie

September 3, 2007 - 15:00 ET by Blonde

I posed a question on the open thread about how the MsM was going to spin Bush's visit to Anbar today, and it's turned into how the dem's are going to spin Gen. Petraeus' testimony.

You, my friend, have just come up with the absolute tack this is going to take, Hillary surging to the middle. My stomach sank like a lead balloon as I read your post. Oh, how I hope you are wrong...but I fear you are not.

I think you've hit the nail squarely on the head with that analysis. It is truly frightening.

David Gregory, do you know which damn network you lie for? ~ Uncle Jimbo, @Blackfive

Blonde, Warts and all,

September 3, 2007 - 15:25 ET by maggieqpublic

Blonde,

Warts and all, I’ve always believed that the President has tried to do what is “right”, and under the most difficult of circumstances.

It will be very sad to see the Machiavellian Clinton crowd back in power. And that looks like a very distinct possibility.

Agreed Again, Maggie

September 3, 2007 - 15:31 ET by Blonde

President Bush has had the pack of jackals nipping at his heels ceaselessly.

The thought of another Clinton at the helm makes me cringe, particularly this one. Bill just wanted to be universally loved. Hillary could hardly care less (well except for now, when she's pandering for votes)....she's in it for the sheer power trip.

I said it before and I'll say it again....it's a frightening thought to me.

David Gregory, do you know which damn network you lie for? ~ Uncle Jimbo, @Blackfive