---
title: "2 David Petraeus Quotes By Michael Hastings"
description: "2 David Petraeus quotes by Michael Hastings. Plus more from Michael Hastings and more David Petraeus sayings from other authors."
image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4d1/michael-hastings-6810_able_general-david-petraeus-was-so-successful_1104862.png"
---

> [General David Petraeus was so successful at getting on covers of magazines, having journalists fall in love with him, that in fact he was able to use that power to go around the normal chain of command.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-hastings/general-david-petraeus-was-so-successful-at-getting-on-covers-of/)

[Michael Hastings](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-hastings/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4d1/michael-hastings-6810_able_general-david-petraeus-was-so-successful_1104862.png)

> [The genius of David Petraeus has always been his masterful manipulation of the media.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-hastings/the-genius-of-david-petraeus-has-always-been-his-masterful/)

[Michael Hastings](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-hastings/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5b0/michael-hastings-6810_always_the-genius-of-david-petraeus-has-always_2864567.png)

## Other authors on David Petraeus

## More by Michael Hastings

> [I have a deep-seated skepticism about the morality of violence. Violence is almost always morally corrosive.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-hastings/i-have-a-deep-seated-skepticism-about-the-morality-of-violence/)

[Michael Hastings](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-hastings/)

> [The humanitarian argument is so selective I find it difficult to swallow. It's not even so much about the choice as to where we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-hastings/the-humanitarian-argument-is-so-selective-i-find-it-difficult-to/)

[Michael Hastings](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-hastings/)

> [If Bill O'Reilly is calling you a far-left critic, in my book, no matter what your political persuasion is, that's probably - that probably…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-hastings/if-bill-o-reilly-is-calling-you-a-far-left-critic-in-my-book-no/)

[Michael Hastings](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-hastings/)

> [I'm post-cynical on this stuff. I look at the El Salvador model as the glory days: Why don't we just fund the death squads…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-hastings/i-m-post-cynical-on-this-stuff-i-look-at-the-el-salvador-model-as-the/)

[Michael Hastings](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-hastings/)

> [Whether or not Afghanistan would be a peaceful nation-state had we not gone into Iraq I doubt. Afghanistan is going to be Afghanistan, no…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-hastings/whether-or-not-afghanistan-would-be-a-peaceful-nation-state-had-we/)

[Michael Hastings](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-hastings/)

> [One of their major initiatives was getting all officers on Facebook. So the question is, why are these people who are there to train…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-hastings/one-of-their-major-initiatives-was-getting-all-officers-on-facebook/)

[Michael Hastings](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-hastings/)

> [It was interesting watching the Afghanistan war review deliberations, this three-month process where Barack Obama did the most thorough foreign policy review ever by…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-hastings/it-was-interesting-watching-the-afghanistan-war-review-deliberations/)

[Michael Hastings](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-hastings/)

> [Inside the White House there were always extreme amounts of doubt about whether they should be escalating in Afghanistan. In fact, most of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-hastings/inside-the-white-house-there-were-always-extreme-amounts-of-doubt/)

[Michael Hastings](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-hastings/)

> [The State Department is essentially... I was going to use the word useless. But I don't know if that's correct.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-hastings/the-state-department-is-essentially-i-was-going-to-use-the-word/)

[Michael Hastings](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-hastings/)

> [If someone tells you something is off the record, I don't print it. If they don't tell me something is off the record, then…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-hastings/if-someone-tells-you-something-is-off-the-record-i-don-t-print-it-if/)

[Michael Hastings](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-hastings/)

> [If you polled the military in Afghanistan as to how many think we should be there or not, the numbers would probably be similar…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-hastings/if-you-polled-the-military-in-afghanistan-as-to-how-many-think-we/)

[Michael Hastings](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-hastings/)

> [Afghanistan would have been difficult enough without Iraq. Iraq made it impossible. The argument that had we just focused on Afghanistan we'd now be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-hastings/afghanistan-would-have-been-difficult-enough-without-iraq-iraq-made/)

[Michael Hastings](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-hastings/)

> [“Her name has been released to the press. Her photograph is released, too. I want to talk to the press about it. I don't…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-hastings/her-name-has-been-released-to-the-press-her-photograph-is-released/)

[Michael Hastings](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-hastings/)

> [The frightening aspect is that it's part of a larger effort from the Pentagon to tear down the wall between public affairs and propaganda,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-hastings/the-frightening-aspect-is-that-it-s-part-of-a-larger-effort-from-the/)

[Michael Hastings](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-hastings/)

> [An information operations team was sent to Afghanistan to conduct various psychological operations on the Afghans and Taliban. The team was then asked not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-hastings/an-information-operations-team-was-sent-to-afghanistan-to-conduct/)

[Michael Hastings](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-hastings/)

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