General Petraeus is on a media tour to sell the idea that the U.S. military is “making progress” in Afghanistan, a well-worn message aimed at convincing elites to extend this brutal, futile war. If the media fail to ask hard questions, there’s a chance he could get what he wants: the freedom to extend an extremely unpopular war that’s not making us safer.

Sign our act.ly petition to tell the next journalists on Petraeus’ media tour to ask tough questions and expose his effort to extend the Afghanistan War.

NBC’s David Gregory just interviewed Petraeus on Meet the Press, and he failed to challenge the general when he claimed we were “making progress.” We’ve got to push the other journalists on Petraeus’ schedule to expose his true agenda: extending this disastrous war.

CBS’ Katie Couric is next in line to talk to Petraeus during his high-profile spin campaign, so we’ll start with her. Sign this petition to Couric and push her to ask tough questions about Petraeus’ claims of “progress” and his attempt to extend the Afghanistan War.

Four Possible Questions for Petraeus

1. “How can you claim we’re ‘making progress’ when your most recent progress report to Congress cited a huge increase in violence this year compared to last year?”
2. “How can you claim we’re making progress when more civilians are dying than ever in Afghanistan?”
3. “IED attacks have doubled compared to last year. Is that ‘progress?’”
4. Pentagon reports indicate the insurgency continues to grow in size and capability since December 2009. Is that “progress?”

Any of these questions can expose Petraeus’ spin for what it is: an attempt to manipulate the media and public opinion to gain the freedom to extend the futile, costly war in Afghanistan.

Don’t Have a Twitter Account?

We know that some of you don’t use Twitter. That’s okay—you can still participate:

1. Copy this text:
   
   “I expect Katie Couric to ask General Petraeus tough questions about his claims of ‘progress’ in Afghanistan and his attempt to extend the war.”
   
   
2. Go here: http://www.cbsnews.com/htdocs/feedback/fb_news_form.shtml
3. Choose “CBS Evening News w/ Katie Couric” from the pulldown menu.
4. Enter your information and paste the message into the text field.

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