US President George W. Bush is promoting his top Iraq commander, Army General David Petraeus, and replacing him with the general’s recent deputy, keeping the US 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 Admiral William Fallon as chief of US Central Command, Defense Secretary Robert Gates said on Wednesday. The joint services command’s area of responsibility features some of the most vexing military and foreign policy problems facing this administration and its successor: Iran, Pakistan, Lebanon, parts of Africa, Afghanistan, Iraq.
Fallon resigned last month because, he said, 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 Lieutenant General Ray Odierno, who was the No. 2 commander in Iraq for 15 months under Petraeus. 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 Florida, by September or October.
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 US troop levels.
The US has about 160,000 troops in Iraq and about 28,000 in Afghanistan. The strain of those wars has taken a heavy toll on US 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 US and allied forces can accomplish in Afghanistan. And he would be pressed on the matter of using military force against Iran.
The president who takes 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, does not change with administrations.
“There is no precedent in US 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 [next year] would be a real statement.”
Many Republicans, including all-but-certain presidential nominee John McCain, are enthusiastic Petraeus supporters. Democrats in Congress are not expected to oppose either Petraeus or Odierno, but they are likely to raise tough questions during confirmation hearings.
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