Obama does not want to meet with Iraqi leaders or with General Petraeus, preferring instead to contemplate meetings with enemy dictators whom he will charm into becoming America's friends. My guess is that he doesn't want to meet with Petraeus because he sees him as a potential rival for President in 2012. Early on I read that Petraeus was a Democrat, but I suppose he could still challenge Obama no matter which party he favors. I remember from when I was young that everyone thought Eisenhower was a Democrat. As I recall Eisenhower had never voted. Certainly FDR thought Eisenhower was a Democrat, or at least was apolitical, or he would never have made him Supreme Commander in Europe. FDR certainly didn't want his ambitious distant cousins Douglas MacArthur or Teddy Roosevelt, Jr. getting a lot of press. MacArthur had a lot of political influence, so was hard for FDR to handle, especially since their other distant cousin Winston Churchill thought MacArthur was the best general in the war. General Teddy Roosevelt, Jr. was the only American General who landed on Omaha Beach on 6 June 1944 but no one knew since FDR ordered that his name couldn't be mentioned in press releases, etc. Even green politicians like Obama know that you have to keep the lid on successful military leaders. (Note: Roosevelt, MacArthur, and Chuchill were related through their mothers, and all apparently were all Mayflower decendants: http://archiver.rootsweb.ancestry.com/th/read/GEN-MEDIEVAL/1996-09/0843494030. My ancestors arrived in Jamestown, Virginia before the Mayflower got to Plymouth Rock. Being a Mayfloer descendent is apparently better.)