Flacking for War Boss Petraeus

Army Gen. David Petraeus passed out briefly during Senate testimony this morning about Afghanistan.

But don’t bother looking for video of the U.S. Central Command leader making a face-plunge down on the table where he was seated during the Armed Services Committee hearing on the nearly nine-year war. The Pentagon’s top press spokesman, former ABC newsman Geoff Morrell, made sure of that.

As Petraeus slumped forward in an apparent fainting spell, Morrell jumped to his feet and positioned himself to block one of the committee’s television cameras from observing the general. He then pointed to an underling and motioned for him to block the view of a second camera.

All the video of the peculiar incident shows is Petraeus’s head seemingly propped up for a moment by one of several uniformed military aides, including one who grabbed his glass of water.