Petraeus Attempts To Manipulate Australian Election With False Claims About Iraq

[RedEarth]

On Monday, President Bush will visit Australia to attend the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit. The White House is using the trip to try to influence the Australian election, where Bush’s good friend John Howard is pitted in a contest against Labor leader Kevin Rudd.

The White House appears to be using Gen. David Petraeus as a PR flack to assist Howard’s reelection effort. Petraeus offered a one-on-one interview with The Australian, timed to coincide with Bush’s visit. In the interview, Petraeus said Bush’s Iraq strategy is working:

General Petraeus told The Australian during a face-to-face interview at his Baghdad headquarters there had been a 75 per cent reduction in religious and ethnic killings since last year

http://thinkprogress.org/2007/08/31/petraeus-john-howard/