( ricks sacrificed his other one to become head hagiographer to general david petraeus ) [ embedded ] reporters suffered from a form of stockholm syndrome , where they so over-sympathized with their subjects that their objectivity vanished like a corporate pension fundi strongly suspect this was part of what seduced tom ricks into david petraeuss bedrollhis books on the iraq war did pretty well , and nbc fops like chris matthews and david gregory kissed up to him on camerabut at core ricks will never be more than a once credible journalist who turned slut-puppy for the long warmongers .