Petraeus Nominated For U.S. Command

If Confirmed By Senate, Four-Star General Leading Iraq War Will Take Over Central Command

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

Gates 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.

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 Mr. Bush over Iran policy. Fallon said the report, while not true, had become a distraction.

Army Lt. Gen. Ray Odierno, currently commander of the Army's 3rd Corps based in the U.S., finished in February a 15-month tour as the top deputy to Petraeus in Baghdad.

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

Central Command, whose headquarters is in the state of Florida, is responsible for U.S. military operations throughout the Middle East, Central Asia and the Horn of Africa.

Fallon relinquished the command March 28 to his top deputy, Army Lt. Gen. Martin Dempsey, and retired from the Navy earlier this month.

[ioweign]

Petraeus is the Peter Principal Poster Pinup...

[ioweign]

I guess the obvious question is - How have your Personally sacrificed? General Petraeus has, but I am guessing you would know nothing of that.

Posted by JERSupporter at 12:54 PM : Apr 24, 2008

Wow - and in the next breath you will tell all that it is a volunteer Army. Fallon was right when he called Petraeus a "Azzz Kizzer"...

[prinzowhales]

Betrayus even looks like some kind of rodentia...If dogs take on the characteristics of their owners as popular fancy would have it...this fellow must have a hairless chihuahua at home...

[jersupporter]

You (General Petraeus) can always sit around and say how right the war was and that the sacrifice was well worth it. Posted by racam_us
----------------
I guess the obvious question is - How have your Personally sacrificed? General Petraeus has, but I am guessing you would know nothing of that.

[grim56z]

Al Qada and Taliban are a bunch of fairy princesses. The Coalition should drag them out of their closets. Why waste time with shrieking wimps?

[hoopersports]

It''s really scary some of the stuff you people actually believe. The Gen is a great man and a great military leader and an American hero.

[racam_us]

See what happens when you say what you are supposed to, when you are supposed to say it. Way to go Petti, you really deserved this. Bush is so proud of you. You may even have a future with one of the news services when you retire. You can always sit around and say how right the war was and that the sacrifice was well worth it. Then one day in the not to distant future when Bush is recognized as undoubtedly the worst President in the history of the United States, it will be time for your tell all book. You can clear you conscience by saying that all of this was done under duress and that they were telling you what to say. Maybe even donate some of your royalties to the treatment for wounds suffered in Bush''s war and maybe even run for President one day.

[emelder]

Why not let Petraeus stay put ... and allow his marvelous "plan" to play out???? He should be held accountable as continued failure in Iraq is inevitable ... and Bush/Cheney are gunning for Iran, setting all the pieces in motion. Constitutional Democracy as we know it slips further and further away.

[watcher269-2009]

Another FINE example of Bushit''s and the GOP''s policy foundation of "FAILING UPWARDS"

If someone F''s up - Promote him!

Also the basis for most corporations!

[naucoming4u]

- War with Iran to begin in the fourth quarter of 2008.

- Oil prices to go to $200 per barrel, or more.

- The 2002 recession will look like a bad day at the nickel slots compared to what is coming!

Yep, it will be Bush and Cheney''s gift to America this Winter...

Merry F-ing Christmas!

[frankbowers]

And just yesterday the news was that these brave Iraq Soldiers all laid down theeir American firearms and refuse tofight their brothers of muslim faith. Yeeeeah
they Petraeus and bush has it in hand, I just wonder who''s hands it is really in it is not the Iraq Guard, they like gw bush in 72 just quit laid down their arms and went home sounds just like bush.
The best of good byes Frank Bowers

[cyberus-2009]

Wonderful.

Now we can start hearing about the threat al Qaeda and WMDs in *Iran*

[bgwinnett]

Get ready for the Afghan "Surge" or splurge more like.

[hoopersports]

Great choice by President Bush. General Petraeus is a true American hero and a great military leader.

[lochlan-2009]

Hopefully the people will remember the senators who vote this guy through when election time comes this Novemeber. I''ll be watching but none of my representatives are up for re-election this year.

This is a Dem. controlled Senate. There is no reason for this guy to sneak through.

[tylenol6]

General BETRAYUS.....is Bush''s yes man indeed. Why do
you think this idiot still has his job while everyone
else was fired?????...........................

[mbcsmith]

There is considerable evidence - proof - that Gen. Petraeus has deliberately deceived the Congress and the American people for political reasons.
Posted by CBS_Oliver at 02:24 PM : Apr 23, 2008

Please provide this "considerable evidence"

[stn_sage]

There is considerable evidence - proof - that Gen. Petraeus has deliberately deceived the Congress and the American people for political reasons.

No officer who lies for political reasons should be advanced in rank. He should be dismissed, not promoted.

Posted by CBS_Oliver at 02:24 PM : Apr 23, 2008
---------------------------------------
Well, most thinking adults realize he got his current job because he agreed to ''take & follow orders''. If that includes making ''false & misleading statements'', so be it! I assume he rationalizes what he does by thinking to himself he was ordered to do it---whatever. Note- this is how I interpret his actions or explain them, I don''t agree with what he does!
What evidence are you referring to CBS_Oliver?

[ioweign]

Petraeus: "I don''t know" if Iraq war makes America safer.

At the Senate Armed Services hearing on progress in Iraq today, Sen. John Warner (R-VA) asked Gen. David Petraeus, the top commander in Iraq, "if we continue what you have laid before the Congress, this strategy, that if you continue, you are making America safer?" "Sir, I don''t know actually,"replied Petraeus, adding that he is solely focused on the mission in Iraq.


Well, he will be right at home with this Regime...


General Petraeus on Iraq: Always Partisan, Always Wrong

http://www.alternet.org/waroniraq/61390/

[parrot123-2009]

I wonder why you never see any serving servicemen express anything about their leadership on these boards ..... Wonder what the American public may actually find out. Just a thought. Cheers!