Of course, Petraeus is just a soldier, and not half a politician too. Of course, Petraeus didn’t cook-to-order the numbers he presented to Congress this month, when he claimed that sectarian violence was down after the surge.

This is just an amazing coincidence:

Civilian casualty numbers in the Pentagon’s latest quarterly report on Iraq last week, for example, differ significantly from those presented by the top commander in Iraq, Gen. David H. Petraeus, in his recent congressional testimony. Petraeus’s chart was limited to numbers of dead, while the Pentagon combined the numbers of dead and wounded — a figure that should be greater. Yet Petraeus’s numbers were higher than the Pentagon’s for the months preceding this year’s increase of U.S. troops to Iraq, and lower since U.S. operations escalated this summer.

Just roll that around in your mind for a bit: in the pre-surge period, Petraeus’ number-of-dead was more than the Pentagon’s number-of-dead-and-wounded.

Then you better follow what is the recommended procedure at wine-tastings: don’t swallow it, just spit.