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Wednesday, June 23, 2010

McChrystal Relieved Of Command..Petraeus Demoted To Take His Place



Well this turned out in an interesting way.

McChrystal being fired was no surprise, and I actually think it's what he wanted. But General David Petraeus taking his place...I have to wonder if he was given any choice in the matter or was simply ordered to do do by Obama, his commander-in-chief.

Actually, this is a step down for General Petraeus, who will go from being commander of CENTCOM to being our commanding General in Afghanistan as Obama appoints a new commander of CENTCOM who will be Petraeus' superior.

In a sense, Obama is doubling down and covering himself on Afghanistan by putting America's best known general in direct command.If it fails, Petraeus will share the onus.

Thus the question on whether Petraeus agreed to take this on or was simply ordered to do so. If he took it on voluntarily, he has to believe that this war can somehow be won. The first thing I'll be looking for is to see whether Petraeus changes the ridiculous Rules Of Engagement when he gets in. I'll also be watching to see what he does with the tribal chiefs and the opium traffic.

A key to understanding Petraeus' thinking is to look at his testimony before Congress on Afghanistan just last week about Obama's written-in-stone July '11 deadline.
"It's important that July 2011 be seen for what it is, the date when a process begins based on conditions, not the date when the U.S. heads for the exits," said Petraeus. "Moreover, my agreement with the president's decisions was based on projections of conditions in July 2011.


From Obama's standpoint, if things go seriously south in AfPak he has a scapegoat. If they go well and Petraeus comes back next year to report on whether conditions are right to start withdrawing next year, Congress and the American people are going to believe him.

Best of luck, General.

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