Al Qaeda in Iraq

If there is any doubt of the degree to which Petraeus has politicized himself, one need look no further than his adoption of the White House's rhetoric on Al Qaeda (video from TPM here).  The simple truth, to those of us paying attention, is that Al Qaeda in Iraq (AQI) 1) had absolutely nothing to do with 9/11, they've just borrowed the brand name, and; 2) AQI represents quite a small portion of the enemy our troops are facing in Iraq.  Andrew Tighman has a great cover story in Washington Monthly that demonstrates how even the 15% estimate by the government is quite overblown– and if it is only 15%, why is Petraeus talking about “Al Qaeda” so disproportionately, if not just to scare ignorant Americans?.