//From the Weekly Standard//

The Senate voted to confirm General David Petraeus as Commander of CentCom by a vote of 95-2. The near-unanimous vote of confidence is rather surprising, given the doubts expressed about Petraeus by Senate Democrats just a few months ago:

SEN. HARRY REID (D-NV):

Q: “…General Petraeus is going to come to the Hill and make it clear to you that there is progress going on in Iraq, that the so-called surge is working. Will you believe him when he says that?” REID: “No, I don't believe him, because it's not happening. All you have to do is look at the facts.” (CNN’s “The Situation Room,” 04/23/07)

“[He] Isn’t In Touch With What’s Going On In Baghdad.” “And for someone, whether it's General Petraeus or anyone else, to say things are great in Baghdad isn't in touch with what's going on in Baghdad, even though he's there and I'm not.” (Press Conference, 06/14/07)

SEN. DICK DURBIN (D-IL) On Gen. Petraeus:

“By carefully manipulating the statistics, the Bush-Petraeus report will try to persuade us that violence in Iraq is decreasing and thus the surge is working. Even if the figures were right, the conclusion is wrong.” (Remarks To The Center For National Policy, Washington, D.C., 09/07/07)

SEN. HILLARY CLINTON (D-NY) To Gen. Petraeus:

“I Think That The Reports That You Provided To Us Really Require The Willing Suspension Of Disbelief.” (Armed Services Committee, U.S. Senate, 09/11/07)

SEN. BARBARA BOXER (D-CA) To Gen. Petraeus:

“I don't consider the surge a nuanced policy. It's killing our soldiers at a great rate. … I think that we need to look at reality. Senator Biden talked to you about what the comptroller general said, and you're going to argue about it? I think the comptroller general ought to be listened to. He says you're cherry picking your numbers in terms of the overall violence. … I ask you to take off your rosy glasses. You had them on in '05.” (Foreign Relations Committee, U.S. Senate, Hearing, 9/11/07)

SEN. JOE BIDEN (D-DE) On Gen. Petraeus:

“This is ridiculous. There is no plan. I ask the President and everyone else who comes forward with a plan, whether it is capping or surging or whatever they have: Will it answer the two-word test: Then what? Then what? Then what? What happens after we surge these women and men? And by the way, he said General Petraeus is one who believes. He may be the only one who believes this is a good idea. Virtually no one else thinks it is a good idea.” (Congressional Record, S.3080, 03/14/07)

“Delaware Sen. Joe Biden said yesterday Gen. David Petraeus is not ‘betraying us,’ as a liberal activist group charges, but the Democratic presidential hopeful did not reject charges that the military commander is using selected statistics to do the White House's bidding. ‘There is some accuracy to’ so-called ‘cooking-the-books’ charges being leveled against Petraeus, Biden, who chairs the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said yesterday in a telephone interview from Washington.” (John Distaso, “Democrats Cool To Latest From Petraeus,” New Hampshire Union Leader, 09/11/07)

SEN. JOHN KERRY (D-MA) On Gen. Petraeus:

“I think the general will present the facts with respect to the statistics and the tactical successes or situations as he sees them. But none of us should be fooled -- not the American people, not you in the media, not us in Congress -- we should not be fooled into this tactical success debate. That's not what this is about.” (ABC’s “This Week,” 09/09/07)

All of these Senators voted to confirm Petraeus. Perhaps the senators in question can explain how they came to realize that they were so spectacularly wrong about Petraeus just a few months ago.

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//From the Weekly Standard//