Gen. Petraeus named as next commander of Mideast command

[thedrifter]

Gen. Petraeus named as next commander of Mideast command

By ANNE FLAHERTY, Associated Press Writer
Wed Apr 23, 5:30 PM ET

Army Gen. David Petraeus, the four-star general who led troops in Iraq for the past year, will be nominated by President Bush to be the next commander of U.S. Central Command, Defense Secretary Robert Gates said Wednesday.

Gates said he expected Petraeus to make the shift in late summer or early fall. The Pentagon chief also announced that Bush will nominate Army Lt. Gen. Ray Odierno to replace Petraeus in Baghdad.

Central Command oversees the wars in Iraq and in Afghanistan.

"I am honored to be nominated for this position and to have an opportunity to continue to serve with America's soldiers, sailors, airmen, Marines, Coast Guardsmen and civilians," Petraeus said in a brief statement from Baghdad.

At a hastily arranged Pentagon news conference, Gates said the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, and other problems in the Central Command area of responsibility, demand knowledge of how to fight counterinsurgencies as well as other unconventional conflicts.

"I don't know anybody in the U.S. military better qualified to lead that effort," he said, referring to Petraeus.

While congressional Republicans swiftly offered ringing endorsements of Petraeus' anticipated nomination, Democrats were more cautious.

A spokeswoman for Sen. Carl Levin, D-Mich., said only that the chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee was "hoping to schedule a prompt confirmation hearing." Sen. Joseph Biden, D-Del., chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said he hopes Petraeus "does not bring an Iraq bias to his new job, at the expense of America's broader security needs."

GOP presidential hopeful John McCain, R-Ariz., said he supports both Petraeus and Odierno. He called Petraeus "one of the great generals in American history."

Gates said he had consulted with Levin and other senior lawmakers about the nominations. The defense secretary said he anticipated no Capitol Hill obstacles to confirmation.

While Democrats are unlikely to block the popular general, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid noted in a statement Wednesday that any war commander must be committed to "implementing major changes in strategy" if directed to do so by a new president.

"The Senate will carefully examine these nominations, and I will be looking for credible assurances of a strong commitment to implementing a more effective national security strategy," said Reid, D-Nev.

Asked if moving Petraeus from the Iraq command could interrupt momentum against the insurgency, Gates said that by waiting until late summer or early fall he hoped to "ensure plenty of time to prepare for a good handoff." He said it also would help that Odierno has had experience as "Petraeus' right-hand man" over the last year.

If confirmed by the Senate, Petraeus would replace Navy Adm. William Fallon, who abruptly stepped down in March after a magazine reported that he was at odds with President Bush over Iran policy. Fallon said the report was not true but had become a distraction.

Odierno, currently commander of the Army's 3rd Corps based at Fort Hood, Texas, finished in February a 15-month tour as the top deputy to Petraeus in Baghdad. He had been nominated for promotion to full general and assignment as the Army's vice chief of staff, but Gates said the Fallon resignation changed the plan. With Odierno tapped for a return to Baghdad, Gates said Bush will nominate Gates' senior military assistant, Army Lt. Gen. Peter Chiarelli, for the Army vice chief of staff job.

Petraeus, 55, is widely hailed by the Bush administration and members of Congress for implementing a new strategy in Iraq, including the deployment of some 30,000 additional troops, that dramatically improved security.

Gates said he expects that Petraeus will make an initial recommendation in late summer on when to resume pulling U.S. forces out of Iraq, following a several-week pause to evaluate the security situation in August.

Central Command, whose headquarters is at Tampa, Fla., is responsible for U.S. military operations throughout the Middle East, Central Asia and the Horn of Africa, and thus oversees the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Fallon relinquished the command March 28 to his top deputy, Army Lt. Gen. Martin Dempsey, and retired from the Navy earlier this month. Dempsey was in the unusual position of having already been nominated to take command of U.S. Army Europe when Fallon bowed out. He appeared to be among those considered as Fallon's permanent replacement, but it now appears he will go to Europe once Petraeus leaves Iraq.

Chiarelli preceded Odierno in Baghdad as the No. 2 U.S. commander and is a former commander of the Army's 1st Cavalry Division.

Ellie

[thedrifter]

Petraeus promotion locks officers in place for successor

By Robert Burns
ASSOCIATED PRESS

2:07 p.m. April 23, 2008

WASHINGTON – President Bush is promoting his top Iraq commander, Army Gen. David Petraeus, and replacing him with the general's recent deputy, keeping the U.S. on its war course and handing the next president a pair of combat-tested commanders who have relentlessly defended Bush's strategies.

Bush will nominate Petraeus to replace Navy Adm. William J. Fallon as chief of U.S. Central Command, Defense Secretary Robert Gates announced Wednesday. The command's area of responsibility features some of the most vexing military and foreign policy problems facing this administration and its successor – including Iran, Pakistan, Lebanon, parts of Africa and Afghanistan in addition to Iraq.

Fallon resigned last month, saying news reports that he was at odds with the White House over Iran policy had become a distraction. He was the first Navy officer to lead Central Command; the Petraeus choice represents a return to the more common practice of making it an Army slot.

Petraeus would be succeeded at a pivotal time in Baghdad by Army Lt. Gen. Ray Odierno, who was the No. 2 commander in Iraq for 15 months. He has been credited by many with deftly managing security gains that Petraeus told Congress this month have opened a pathway for potential political progress in the country.

Gates said he hoped the Senate would act on both nominations by next month and expected Petraeus to switch to the Central Command job, which is based in Tampa, Fla., by late summer or early fall.

That is the point at which Petraeus is likely to make an initial recommendation to Gates and to Bush on whether conditions in Iraq are stable enough to permit a further reduction in U.S. troop levels.

The United States has about 160,000 troops in Iraq and about 28,000 in Afghanistan. The strain of those wars has taken a heavy toll on U.S. ground forces.

Among the politically sensitive questions Petraeus would face as head of Central Command is whether the military focus on Iraq is limiting what U.S. and allied forces can accomplish in Afghanistan. And he would be pressed on the matter of using military force against Iran.

The next president taking office in January would not be compelled to keep either Petraeus or Odierno, but normally the lineup of senior commanders – as well as the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff – is not changed with administrations.

“There is no precedent in U.S. tradition for a new president changing these kinds of officers,” said Stephen Biddle, a senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations and an occasional adviser to Petraeus. “For an incoming president to change them (in 2009) would be a real statement.”

Many Republicans, including all-but-certain presidential nominee John McCain, are enthusiastic Petraeus supporters. Democrats on Capitol Hill are not expected to oppose either Petraeus or Odierno, but they are likely to raise tough questions during confirmation hearings.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid noted after Gates' announcement that any war commander must be committed to “implementing major changes in strategy” if directed to do so by a new president.

“The Senate will carefully examine these nominations, and I will be looking for credible assurances of a strong commitment to implementing a more effective national security strategy,” said Reid, D-Nev.

At a Pentagon news conference, Gates said he did not foresee that the new lineup at Central Command and in Iraq would mean any changes in the way the U.S. is approaching the issue of Iranian influence in Iraq. Petraeus and Odierno have both accused Iran of aiding rebels opposing U.S. troops.

“It's my belief that General Odierno and General Petraeus and Admiral Fallon were all in exactly the same position when it came to their views of Iranian interference inside Iraq,” Gates said. “And it is a hard position. Because what the Iranians are doing is killing American service men and women inside Iraq.”

Petraeus will face broader aspects of the Iran issue if he is confirmed as Fallon's replacement. A number of U.S. officials, including Adm. Michael Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, have asserted that Iran also is supplying arms or otherwise supporting the Taliban rebels in Afghanistan.

Earlier this week, Gates said that while war with Iran would be “disastrous on a number of levels,” the military option cannot be abandoned so long as the Iranians remain a potential nuclear threat.

Many had seen a strong possibility that Gates' senior military assistant, Army Lt. Gen. Peter Chiarelli, would replace Petraeus in Baghdad if Petraeus were nominated for the Central Command job.

Asked why he had recommended Odierno, Gates said, “General Odierno is known recently to the Iraqi leadership, he's known to the Iraqi generals, he is known to our own people, he has current experience,” and so the odds of a smooth transition in Baghdad “are better with him than with anybody else I could identify.”

Odierno, currently commander of the Army's 3rd Corps at Fort Hood, Texas, served as the No. 2 commander in Iraq from December 2006 to February 2008. Chiarelli, who preceded Odierno in that post and then joined Gates' staff, will be nominated as the next vice chief of staff of the Army. Bush had nominated Odierno for that job some months ago; Gates said that nomination will be withdrawn.

The current Army vice chief of staff, Gen. Richard Cody, is expected to retire this summer.

Ellie

[thedrifter]

Battlefield Promotions
April 24, 2008; Page A12

President Bush took far too long to find his best war-fighting generals in Iraq, but now that he has them we're glad to see he is giving them battlefield promotions. That's the meaning of yesterday's Pentagon announcement that General David Petraeus and Lieutenant General Raymond Odierno will receive new commands later this year.

General Petraeus, current Iraq commander and a main architect of the counterinsurgency "surge," will be nominated to run the U.S. Central Command, the regional theater that includes Iraq and Afghanistan. Lt. Gen. Odierno, who assisted General Petraeus in executing the surge strategy for 15 months through this February, will take his former boss's place as commander for Iraq operations in Baghdad.

This means that both men will be able to build on the Iraq success of the last year, without losing time as new commanders learn the ropes. It also means that General Petraeus won't face a superior at Centcom agitating that he withdraw troops before Iraqis are ready to handle their own security. That was the case with former Centcom chief, Admiral William Fallon, who recently resigned with a well-deserved White House push. As a theater commander with a direct line to the Defense Secretary and President, General Petraeus also won't have to answer to service chiefs jealous of his success and resources.

Lt. Gen. Odierno, now leading the Army's 3rd Corps at Fort Hood, Texas, was probably not thrilled to be asked to return to Iraq for yet another tour. His first was leading an invasion division in 2003, and his troops were responsible for capturing Saddam Hussein's sons, Uday and Qusay. But the knowledge he's learned, often the hard way, about counterinsurgency in Iraq will be invaluable in extending the gains of the surge. In 2007, he helped design the offensive strategy that has kept constant pressure on al Qaeda in Iraq.

If confirmed by the Senate, the pair will lead their commands into 2009 and the next Presidency. This means the next President will get the candid advice of Generals who will not want to jeopardize hard-won progress with a too-hasty withdrawal. As patriots, they will of course follow civilian orders. But knowing first-hand the sacrifice of their soldiers, they well appreciate the consequences for Army morale if the U.S. fails in Iraq. Who knows: Barack Obama might even listen if General Petraeus explains why retreat in Iraq would make victory in Afghanistan harder, not easier.

Personnel decisions have not been one of Mr. Bush's strengths – think George Tenet at CIA, among many other choices. Putting loyalty above competence has cost the Administration in several policy arenas. But like Lincoln in the Civil War and FDR in World War II, Mr. Bush eventually found the right men and the right strategy in Iraq. We're glad he's giving them greater authority to pursue a lasting strategic victory.

Ellie