Dem. Rep says Petraeus Testimony Carries a Charlie Sheen
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Army Gen. David Petraeus delivers testimony to the House Armed Services Committee Wednesday. (AP Photo)
Charlie Sheen and U.S. Forces-Afghanistan Commander General David Petraeus have something in common, at least according to a California congresswoman.
Rep. Lynn Woolsey, D-Calif., said she agreed with comments made by "Rolling Stone" writer Michael Hastings Tuesday that likened Petraeus's appearances on Capitol Hill this week providing progress updates on the war in Afghanistan to Sheen's recent bizarre media blitz.
"[Hastings] said, General Petraeus is giving us the Charlie Sheen counterinsurgency strategy-to give exclusive interviews to every major network and keep saying we are winning, and hope the public agrees with you," Woolsey said on the House Floor Wednesday, referring to the cavalcade of television appearances Sheen made in recent weeks asserting he is sane, sober, and "winning" at life.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"I hope all of us in the 112th Congress will listen to people like ... Mr. Hastings," Woolsey continued.
Hastings--who wrote the damning 2010 magazine article that led to previous Afghanistan war commander Gen. Stanley McChrystal's resignation--made those comments at a Progressive Caucus event Tuesday.
Woolsey's hard-hitting remarks are not the first Petraeus has faced on the Hill. In 2007, then-senator Hilary Clinton said in a hearing about Iraq war developments that Petraeus's testimony required "a willing suspension of disbelief."