Gen. Petraeus - new U.S. CENTCOM Commander
WASHINGTON (AP) - April 23, 2008 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."
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.
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.