THE WORST Icon of the Year — General David Howell Petraeus

Gen. David Petraeus is the Lone Star Iconoclast’s Icon of the Year.

The current Commanding General of the Multi-National Force in Iraq, purely a euphemism for “invading army,” is the recipient of this dishonor for one big reason:

He is carrying out a temporary yet successful military strategy that has given American fascism new life in a war that it cannot possibly win.

The so-called “surge” of U.S. troops to strengthen the occupation of Baghdad has clearly propped the puppet government in a Middle Eastern country we, and they, continue to loot.

This strategy furthers the creation of a monster that may rival the one the United States fostered in Europe after World War I.

At the same time, the U.S. government is oppressing two ethnic minorities while allowing another nation to cream the third in Iraq.

By letting Turkey bludgeon the Kurds, the U.S. is limiting Kurdistan’s choices to accept the will of Iraq’s corrupt Shia government.

The Turks will kill the Kurds with no second thoughts.

Indeed, another Armenian-style desolation is in the works under the Petraeus Doctrine.

The Bush administration knows this and acts according to its own brand of corporatism.

Since his confirmation in January 2007, Gen. Petraus has gleefully led this charge.

Petraeus’ report in September failed to tell the whole truth about Iraq to the American people

It failed to explain the extent of the Sunni militias infiltrating the Iraqi Security Forces.

It failed to explain why the greatest drop in “ethno-sectarian” deaths occurred before the surge began.

It failed to explain why hundreds of thousands of Iraqis were still leaving their homes for safety’s sake.

It failed to explain whether the salaries of the 445,000 people on security forces’ payroll go into the pockets of ministry officials.

There is speculation that Petraeus will use this experience to launch a career in politics, the target being the Oval Office.

His refusal to support a timetable for troop withdrawal fuels this speculation continued through the year.

Petraeus may have written the Army’s counterinsurgency manual, but that means nothing when it is used against every Iraqi