It has been a contentious week in Washington, as General David Petraeus, the commander of U.S. forces in Iraq, testified before Congress about the progress of the military's efforts there so far.
Though the final result - a promise by President Bush to remove 5,700 troops by December and to bring home five combat brigades consisting of another 18,000 troops by July, according to Fox News - was similar to Petraeus' recommendation, his testimony caused partisan sparks to fly on Capitol Hill.
Throughout Petraeus' testimony, some anti-war groups and politicians attempted to undermine his credibility, arguing that his assessment of the situation was politically biased.
Petraeus faced "dozens of trick questions and long-winded rants from skeptical U.S. lawmakers," according to Canada's National Post, and the well-known anti-war group MoveOn.org printed a full-page in the New York Times referring to Petraeus as "General Betray Us."
Those who attacked Petraeus faced criticism of their own for the tactics. A flashy Drudge Report headline accused Senator and presidential hopeful Hillary Clinton (D-N.Y.) of "spewing political venom" during the hearings. And after MoveOn.org's ad was printed, the National Republican Congressional Committee sent out messages attacking the Democrats who receive donations from the site, according to Politico.com.
While politicians were butting heads in Washington over the credibility of Petraeus' testimony, however, Americans have largely made up their minds as to who they trust, according to a new New York Times/CBS poll. The poll found that 68 percent of Americans trusted military commanders over politicians to end the conflict in Iraq.
On a politically active campus like Tufts, who do students trust for honest assessment and resolution of the conflict? Students interviewed generally said they would believe military commanders over politicians, but expressed a surprisingly cynical view about both.
"Everyone's biased toward their own interests and their own gains from the situations," said sophomore Esra Berkol, who is taking an international relations class this semester in which she discussed the issue. "I don't think anyone is truly objective about this - not the military, not the politicians. They have the information, and they filter it to get out a certain message that we see in public. But behind the curtain, it's just not the same."
Junior Brittney King agreed, but said she trusts military commanders more than she trusts politicians.
"I feel like we're in a haze, and no one can see clearly," she said. "Definitely don't look toward the politicians for unbiased information."
For junior Lyle Friedman, military commanders have more direct knowledge of the situation than anyone. But Friedman is wary that they may distort it.
"I would say military commanders have a better idea of what's going on in the field, but they've been so slandered by the media that they may not have the credibility they need," she said. "I also think the military is so self-protective. They have the knowledge, and behind closed doors they can use it to make their decisions, but they're sometimes reluctant to reveal that to the public."
Friedman said she would believe the assessment of soldiers who are fighting in the conflict, rather than their commanders.
"It would be really nice to hear from some people who've come back from Iraq, from some of the soldiers," she said. "People are really afraid to seem unpatriotic and not support our troops, but at the same time I don't think all of our troops really want to be there either."
Junior Isaac Emmanuel agreed that soldiers have the best perception of the true situation in Iraq, but said he trusts the military as a whole.
"I've always been of the opinion that the politicians can send people to war because they don't have to go there themselves," he said. "I haven't been keeping up with what they've been talking about [in the hearings], but I would expect that the military would have a better idea of what's going on [in Iraq]."
While most students approached were skeptical of both politicians and military commanders, senior Matt Cohen had a more positive outlook.
"I know it's kind of blind optimism, but I have faith in people and the people we elect," he said. "If this is going to work at all, we have to kind of work together. Democrat or Republican, we have to kind of work in conjunction with each other if we want to accomplish anything."
