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Read other letters about this article
You're right, I did misunderstand the quotes. I would have understood if I had checked the document, but I didn't. Thanks for clarifying it for me (and everybody else).
Redaction itself is not a sign of guilt or criminal intent. I've done some redaction myself, following guidelines that have been in place for some time, which follow a non-political logic that most people would agree are reasonable. I'm still reading these things, but nothing has raised my eyebrows yet about 'why was this person's name or email removed'.
Please understand, I'm not trying to minimize what's happened here. A crime has been committed. I've been clear in here (see my other letters) how I feel about that. We'll all take our collective work and collective review and hopefully talk to friends (not just the converted) about it, write letters about it, pen op-eds for the local papers. It would be a lot more effective if we focus on things where there's a strong case, and do our best to see the people who are actually responsible for this 'program' held accountable.
A lot of stuff (on TPM) that people are exercised about reads like simple prepping, which isn't illegal and which provides a smokescreen others will hide behind. If Petraeus rehashed his congressional testimony to the analysts, which is what I would expect him to do, then I don't see him as culpable. I see the guy who set up that meeting as culpable.
I'm very wary of Petraeus, but he's also been very careful about managing his scope. There's a fine line between emphasizing the positive aspects of the disaster, within the scope of his responsibility to maintain support, and misrepresenting what's going on. We won't get him on that, and can rally more support behind him and this idiotic war if we choose our targets poorly.
Targeting those who closely managed a supposedly independent set of assets, and marketed the war to the media through them, you don't run into this problem. They don't have any fine lines. That's why I take the position I do wrt Petraeus.
