WASHINGTON — Gen. David H. Petraeus, who led the American troop surge in Iraq and is widely credited with helping to turn around the war there, will take over as the top American commander in Afghanistan on July 4, defense officials said Monday.
General Petraeus, who will be promoted to four-star general before assuming his new post, will replace Gen. Stanley A. McChrystal, who was dismissed by President Obama last week after a profile in Rolling Stone magazine portrayed him and his staff as mocking civilian leaders and questioning the war strategy.
General Petraeus’s appointment is a sign that the Obama administration is seeking to accelerate its exit from Afghanistan and to hand over responsibility for security to the Afghan government. General Petraeus is known for his emphasis on counterinsurgency tactics, which focus on protecting the local population and building up local security forces. He is also known for his close relationships with Afghan leaders.
General Petraeus’s appointment was praised by some experts on Afghanistan, who said he was the right man to lead the war effort at this critical time. But others expressed concern that he might not be able to achieve the same success in Afghanistan that he did in Iraq, where he had the support of a large American force and a relatively stable government.
“Petraeus is a brilliant general, but Afghanistan is a much more difficult challenge than Iraq,” said Anthony H. Cordesman, a military analyst at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. “The insurgency is stronger, the government is weaker, and the political situation is more complex.”
General Petraeus is scheduled to testify before the Senate Armed Services Committee on Tuesday, where he is expected to outline his plans for Afghanistan. He is also likely to face questions about the Rolling Stone article and the circumstances surrounding General McChrystal’s dismissal.
General Petraeus, a 1974 graduate of the United States Military Academy at West Point, has served in a variety of command and staff positions, including as commander of the 101st Airborne Division during the invasion of Iraq in 2003. He was promoted to three-star general in 2004 and became commander of the multinational force in Iraq in 2007. He is widely credited with helping to turn around the war in Iraq by implementing a counterinsurgency strategy that focused on protecting the local population and building up local security forces.
General Petraeus is known for his close relationships with Afghan leaders, including President Hamid Karzai. He is also known for his emphasis on counterinsurgency tactics, which focus on protecting the local population and building up local security forces. He is likely to continue these policies in Afghanistan, where the US is seeking to hand over responsibility for security to the Afghan government.
However, some experts on Afghanistan have expressed concern that General Petraeus might not be able to achieve the same success in Afghanistan that he did in Iraq. They point out that the insurgency in Afghanistan is stronger, the government is weaker, and the political situation is more complex. They also note that General Petraeus will not have the same level of support in Afghanistan that he had in Iraq, where he had a large American force and a relatively stable government.
General Petraeus is scheduled to testify before the Senate Armed Services Committee on Tuesday, where he is expected to outline his plans for Afghanistan. He is also likely to face questions about the Rolling Stone article and the circumstances surrounding General McChrystal’s dismissal..
