It looks beyond the popular story of the brilliant general brought down by a tawdry affair and a series of unfortunate accidents, and it looks at the man and the myth that was built up around him over the past several years.
Truscott's Petaeus is/was an image-conscious "self-constructed hologram emitting an aura of preening heroism for the ever eager cameras."
I read recently, but will have to hunt for the source, that Petraeus recently appeared at a party in Washington DC in civilian dress with this array of medals on his suit!! Can you imagine?
As Truscott says, "I would propose that every moment a general spends on his uniform jacket is a moment he’s not doing his job..."
Truscott's essay reminded me of a book just out that I'm not going to read, and which I only know about because it was mentioned to me by a friend, called The Generals: American Military Command from World War II to Today, by Thomas E. Ricks. As the Amazon review says, it is about an army leadership culture that no longer punishes mediocrity, and which is strategically obtuse. One quote I like, from a Colonel (envious?) is "a private who loses a rifle suffers far greater consequences than a general who loses a war."
Actually, you'll have a hard time convincing me we have had any winnable wars since WWII, whether the generals have been incompetent or not, but I like the quote.
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