One of the Greatest Generals in History?

Am I the only one who finds John McCain's constant referring to David Petraeus as "one of the greatest generals in history" absurd? By what standard? He seems pretty competent, certainly more so than the military officers leading the troops during the beginning of the war. But how precisely is he even one of the greatest generals in American history? Greater than Washington? Then Grant? Then Eisenhower or Sherman or Lee?


I'm certainly no expert on military history. But I don't think I am missing anything here. McCain's desperately trying to show that the Surge has worked and is giving Petraeus all the credit. This despite the fact that Iraqis seem to believe the Surge is irrelevant and that the violence has dropped because Iraqis themselves were sick of the killing and started to work through their sectarian problems to rebuild their society.


Anyway, the idea that Petraeus is one of the greatest generals in history might be the single most laughable theme of this presidential election, rivaling perhaps only Fred Thompson's entire candidacy.