He's with the generals, generally

Lindsey Graham stood up for Gen. David Petraeus. For Lt. Gen. Ricardo Sanchez? Not so much.

Published October 15, 2007 8:09PM (EDT)

When MoveOn placed its Petraeus/"Betray Us" ad in the New York Times, Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham called it "sick and disgusting."

"While we believe fervently in the right of free speech," he said, "we also believe that it is possible and proper to conduct this debate without besmirching our brave men and women in uniform."

So what does Graham have to say about retired Army Lt. Gen. Ricardo Sanchez, who said last week that the Iraq war has been a "glaring, unfortunate display of incompetent strategic leadership"?

Well, this: "I appreciate his service, but Abu Ghraib got out of control under his watch, the war in general got out of control under his watch. And it's not time to blame people, but his criticism is a bit astounding to me given his role in the war itself."


By Tim Grieve

Tim Grieve is a senior writer and the author of Salon's War Room blog.

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Iraq War Lindsey Graham War Room