Bush slams MoveOn.org and Democrats for Petraeus ad

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President George W. Bush said on Thursday an ad criticizing the United States' top commander in Iraq was "disgusting" and added that Democrats should have spoken out against it.

The liberal anti-war group MoveOn.org has drawn widespread criticism from Republicans for its ad in the New York Times last week that labeled Army Gen. David Petraeus as "General Betray Us" as he testified to Congress that Bush's troop build-up in Iraq was making progress.

"I thought the ad was disgusting," Bush said at a press conference. "I felt like the ad was an attack not only on Gen. Petraeus but on the U.S. military, and I was disappointed that not more leaders in the Democrat party spoke out strongly against that ad."

"And that leads me to come to this conclusion: that most Democrats are afraid of irritating a left-wing group like MoveOn.org, or more afraid of irritating them, then they are of irritating the United States military," Bush added. "That was a sorry deal."