DFH General David Petraeus.

Here is an excerpt from an interview General David Petraeus granted to Radio Free Europe.

RFE/RL: As you know, General, the debate over Guantanamo and enhanced interrogation techniques has become "Topic A" in Washington. In your view, does the closing of "Gitmo" and the abandonment of those techniques complicate the U.S. mission in Iraq, Afghanistan, and in the overall struggle against violent transnational extremist groups or does it help it?

Petraeus: I think, on balance, that those moves help it. In fact, I have long been on record as having testified and also in helping write doctrine for interrogation techniques that are completely in line with the Geneva Convention. And as a division commander in Iraq in the early days, we put out guidance very early on to make sure that our soldiers, in fact, knew that we needed to stay within those guidelines.

With respect to Guantanamo, I think that the closure in a responsible manner, obviously one that is certainly being worked out now by the Department of Justice -- I talked to the attorney general the other day [and] they have a very intensive effort ongoing to determine, indeed, what to do with the detainees who are left, how to deal with them in a legal way, and if continued incarceration is necessary -- again, how to take that forward.

But doing that in a responsible manner, I think, sends an important message to the world, as does the commitment of the United States to observe the Geneva Convention when it comes to the treatment of detainees.

Now the question is will Dick Cheney and the rest of his minions attack General Petraeus? I ask because it is readily apparent now that anyone who disagrees with the Dick Cheney wing of the GOP faces the wrath of the wingnuts. They don't seem to care who it is, if you aren't for torture and you aren't for keeping GITMO open forever then obviously you are some pinko commie terrorist sympathizer who hates America. Now when you talk about General Petraues you are talking about a man who is commanding troops in two separate war theaters. A man who is responsible for the lives of thousands of our men and women. People who are on the front lines of the fight are in the most danger. Yet here he is endorsing President Obama's move to outlaw torture and his plans to close GITMO. At this point that calls for an almost immediate attack by the Republican messaging machine. But there is only one problem, its going to be hard to pull Petraeus down from the pedestal they built for him.

As the architect and implementer of the surge strategy in Iraq, General Petraeus was painted as a hero and a genius but a Bush Administration desperate for any good news on that front. He rose to almost mythical stature in the GOP and was defended vigorously when MoveOn attacked him in a full page ad. A man whom some felt should be the Republican nominee for President in the very near future.So now that he has come out on the opposite side of the debate from Cheney what can the GOP do? If they try to play down his endorsement they risk losing credibility. If they try to smear General Petraeus they risk starting an intraparty revolt. More than likely what I imagine what they will do is totally ignore it and hope it goes away. Unfortunately for us judging by the state of our media they will probably be allowed to get away with it.

(h/t Steve Benen)