President Bush will nominate Army Gen. David H. Petraeus, the commander of U.S. troops in Iraq, to become the next overall commander of American forces in the Middle East as part of a personnel shuffle to take place by early fall, Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates announced today.
To ensure continuity in Iraq, the administration’s choice to replace Petraeus is Army Lt. Gen. Raymond T. Odierno, who recently returned from a 15-month tour in Iraq as Petraeus’s top deputy, Gates told a hastily arranged Pentagon news conference.
Pete Wehner gives it a thumbs up;
What he and Odierno have achieved in Iraq since early 2007 is staggering. They took a nation that was in a death spiral and, working with the greatest military on earth, have given Iraq a chance to survive and hopefully, over time, to flourish. They are overseeing one of the greatest counterinsurgency plans we have ever witnessed, one that is dealing punishing blows to Al Qaeda in Iraq and militia forces backed by Iran.
Arguably George W. Bush’s most impressive decision in his presidency was when, in the face of gale force political winds, he embraced the “surge” – and put David Petraeus in charge of it.
The previous centcom chief was an obstructionist to a more aggressive ROE and he was against more aggressive responses to Iran’s interference (it was rumoured that he was key in downplaying Iran’s nuclear threat assessment).
Petraeus’ appt as well as Odierno’s is sending a chill up the collective spine of the Iranian leadership right this very moment. I bet coalition troop morale has jumped even higher too…
Give Petraeus a fifth star: he’s earned it, and deserves to be able to pull rank on the Chiefs.
Bush will be remembered favorably in history, as Truman eventual was. Both Bush’s war and Truman’s, in N Korea, went on long enough to become very unfavorable with the American people.
It is called leadership, and few presidents have it. The last Democratic one was Kennedy. But we have an entirely different Democratic Party today. It has been hijacked by Socialists who prefer a weak America. An America Alone.
The American military and their close allies will emerge from this action as the lethal force on the new battlefield of counter insurgency. This includes Canada, Australia, British, Dutch and a few other Nato countries contributing. New weapon systems will come on stream from the experience gained and future Al Queda enemies will be at the mercy of this force. Iraq will be as free a country as can be expected as will Afghanistan.
We will all be safer for it – but lets hope we can keep our freedoms.
You have to hand it to the Bush team. They got it right in stage two. If you look back at battles in WW11 for example, many terrible blunders. Wasn’t Montgomery the third replacement in the desert campaign? First General who realized that he had to bring the individual Tommy into consideration and boost morale to win consistently.
If the Allies continue to kick ass the enemy will eventually steal away in the night and vanish, as they did 600 years ago.
President Bush has been under a constant media shower of vitriol ever since he put his name forward to be President but he has never caved in to his critics. President Bush is a God faring Christian man who does not need the media gushing all over him to make him feel confident; the morally vacant talking heads in the media could not tolerate this Masculine independence.
For myself, I have always trusted and respected President Bush. I admire his courage and his lack of concern for the vultures in the media who wrote ignorant, stupid articles condemning him – many of these articles manufactured. No criticism was too over the top for the writers and yappers in the media.
President Bush stayed the course as he said he would. I thank the good Lord very often that President George Bush, not Goricle or the Kerry liar has occupied the White House for the last eight years.
God bless President Bush and the Generals and soldiers who fight for Freedom and dignity for us and people in foreign lands. Shame on us for taking them for granted.
Here in Canada we have the best Prime Minister that Canadians have ever elected. Someday History will record these men as great statesmen. Why? Because they are great Statesmen. Our Prime Minister and the President of United States concern themselves with the buisness of State, not smoozing with the frienzed fools in the media so they can enrich themselves and their friends through positive newsreel reviews; at the expense of the people they serve.
I hope that McCain is taking notes.
Quite the speach for 4 in the morning Jema54 but you certainly hit the nail on the head. Despite what the media spinners think, most people would rather have a leader than a popularity contestant at the helm of their country.
“New weapon systems will come on stream from the experience gained and future Al Qaeda enemies will be at the mercy of this force. Iraq will be as free a country as can be expected as will Afghanistan.”
I assume you are assuming McCain is elected LEDA,
If Obama is, there is just no way money will be spent bringing more weapons systems online.
In classic Neo-Democratic fashion, military spending will go down and social spending will go up. The first step, as both he and Hillary proclaim, money will be saved for social spending by leaving Iraq to the Iranians.
At least Hillary will have some sane influence on her reckless leftist tendencies by her spouse Bill. Obama, on the otherhand, will have insane influence on his moderate tendencies by his spouse….and spiritual leader.
During the Vietnam War, which, Anne Coulter notwithstanding, Canada boycotted, a few individual Canadian patriots slipped across the border and enlisted into the American army to get into the action. The US still accepts volunteers from outside the United States. You see what I’m sayin’?
Dirty Little Secret: Petraeus wasn’t there sooner because he simply couldn’t be.
The state of senior leadership within the military was – and in many ways still is – hobbled by the effects of the Clinton presidency. Rumsfeld was right, “You don’t go to war with the army you want, you go to war with the army you have.” Well, take my word for it – the senior leadership at the beginning of this war were *exactly* the types of people you would expect to do well under someone like Bill Clinton. Rumsfeld took a lot of flack, especially in the press, but did what needed to be done: he shook things up enough to allow someone like Patraeus to rise to the top.
And the American Military will be all the better for it.
“……Gates told a hastily arranged Pentagon news conference.”
Yep …. it’s ALL a BIG surprise to everyone!
What tools these MSMers are!!
“And the American Military will be all the better for it.”
And along those lines, Petraeus is just the beginning. The US military now has a junior officer corps and NCO corps more experienced than any since the days of Napoleon. The value of that in years to come simply cannot be overstated.
Dave J said: The US military now has a junior officer corps and NCO corps more experienced than any since the days of Napoleon. The value of that in years to come simply cannot be overstated
That’s true *if* those people are allowed to fully develop. Keep in mind that the problem I mentioned isn’t just witht the officer ranks. There are problems in the senior enlisted ranks of all branches as well. It will take a great deal of time, and more than a few strategically placed “good people” to effect the changes needed, and it will take time.
One of the main reasons I’ve decided to suck it up and support McCain. There is a lot about him that really frustrates me, but when I look at the alternatives all I can see is a little flicker of “hope and change” being snuffed out.
Dave J said: The US military now has a junior officer corps and NCO corps more experienced than any since the days of Napoleon. The value of that in years to come simply cannot be overstated
That’s true *if* those people are allowed to fully develop. Keep in mind that the problem I mentioned isn’t just witht the officer ranks. There are problems in the senior enlisted ranks of all branches as well. It will take more than a few strategically placed “good people” to effect the changes needed, and it will take time.
One of the main reasons I’ve decided to suck it up and support McCain. There is a lot about him that really frustrates me, but when I look at the alternatives all I can see is a little flicker of “hope and change” being snuffed out.
preview is your friend.