Comments on: U.S. to move Petraeus from Iraq to NATO?

By: Hot Air » Blog Archive » Fareed Zakaria: How come the candidates aren’t adapting their rhetoric on Iraq?

Wed, 23 Jan 2008 03:05:47 +0000

[...] The only developments realistically that might change the political game at this point are the end of the Mahdi Army ceasefire, the long-awaited jihadi Tet, or the signing of the long-term security partnership with Iraq that [...]

By: Enrique

Enrique — Tue, 22 Jan 2008 17:16:21 +0000

But Petraeus says he is in regular contact with a “senior Sadr political official.”

Hmmm, so even Petraeus can’t talk directly to the fat man? That doesn’t seem right.

By: James

James — Tue, 22 Jan 2008 12:52:15 +0000

In this case Petraeus’ sucessor just needs to keep it by the book, and don;t hestitate to use the phone if he has a question.
Move Petraeus to NATO, and get the organization righted, and with it the operation in Afghanistan.

paulsur on January 21, 2008 at 10:52 PM

Officers are not usually known for ‘not changing stuff’ once they take on a new job. Indeed, ‘not changing stuff’ has been widely regarded as a ticket to getting one’s self fired. In fact, I’ve seen it happen.

On the other hand, officer reassignments happen as a matter of course…I don’t claim to know how the Army does it, but it’s unusual for someone to stay in the same billet (especially command positions) for more than a couple of years and often they are limited to a single year. In this case, there would be a good reason to make an exception…but it would be just that, an exception.

By: Greenhorn

Greenhorn — Tue, 22 Jan 2008 05:14:38 +0000

NATO considering pre-emptive nuke!

By: paulsur

paulsur — Tue, 22 Jan 2008 03:52:29 +0000

Petraeus has implmeneted a sucessful strategy. Noreason to think his sucessor should not be able to continue it. It’s not like his sucessor has to figure out a winning strategy in the midst of a worsening crisis and a failed startegy to date. In this case Petraeus’ sucessor just needs to keep it by the book, and don;t hestitate to use the phone if he has a question.
Move Petraeus to NATO, and get the organization righted, and with it the operation in Afghanistan.

By: Baphomet

Baphomet — Tue, 22 Jan 2008 03:34:00 +0000

Somehow I have the cozy feeling that the US will capture or kill Bin Laden in 2008 and Bush haters will have to admit there’s a legacy -a big one- coming from this administration…

By: mattyj86

mattyj86 — Tue, 22 Jan 2008 01:44:50 +0000

These Saudis man….they’re killing us in Iraq. They represented the majority of the 9-11 hijackers. They torture their own population with their backwards religious law. Why are we friends with them again??????

By: Griz

Griz — Tue, 22 Jan 2008 01:36:34 +0000

Drill a dam oil well on our own soil and then bomb Saudi Arabia and Palastine back into the stone age. All middle-east problems solved.

By: Harpoon

Harpoon — Tue, 22 Jan 2008 01:24:37 +0000

Shouldn’t there be a “?” after promotion?

By: Wonkette

Wonkette — Tue, 22 Jan 2008 01:15:40 +0000

Rudy Will Be President of Our Memories…

Wait a minute, we thought it was impossible to use the intertubes to vote for anything except Hot or Not. [Wizbang Politics]America waterboards Canada into agreeing that the U.S. doesn’t torture. [Think Progress]We hope to see as much gay sex……

By: robo

robo — Tue, 22 Jan 2008 00:58:15 +0000

I do not think that “Ike” could get much out of nato….the canadians and dutch excluded….and I would hate to see his (petreus) obvious talent wasted…..

By: Mike D.

Mike D. — Tue, 22 Jan 2008 00:56:19 +0000

Cool breeze my friend, I am not Michael Yon.

I am just a Hot Air acolyte and occasional poster,
unfit to hold a boot for Mr. Yon to relieve himself in.

By: Travis1

Travis1 — Tue, 22 Jan 2008 00:51:41 +0000

Right, Mike D!
We stayed home from the polls and got Pelosi and Reid…
If we stay home again, Waxman will be investigating Petraeus’ success in Iraq. Please spare us of that nightmare as we have had too many nightmares come true already.

By: DJ Elliott

DJ Elliott — Tue, 22 Jan 2008 00:43:20 +0000

The Iraq billet is a 18 month billet.
That means he is due to rotate in July.
Casey filled it for 30 and was burnout the last year.
That showed in his actions.

Shifting him to NATO gives him a changeup, where he can have family with him, and puts him where he can influence Afghan for the next 36 months (NATO billet is 36mo…)

I suspect they will move him before fall for those reasons…

By: cool breeze

cool breeze — Mon, 21 Jan 2008 23:57:36 +0000

Mike D.,

If that link is informing us that Mike D. is Michael Yon, let me be the first to say that my hat is off to you, sir.

By: Mike D.

Mike D. — Mon, 21 Jan 2008 23:48:12 +0000

i grok you breeze. thats why, in my opinion…worth 2 cents, no GOP voter can in good conscience stay home in November because their preferred world view is insufficiently represented in whoever the nominee is.

thats going to happen to 1/3 of all GOP voters, anyway,
but staying home is not an option.

By: Canadian Imperialist Running Dog

Canadian Imperialist Running Dog — Mon, 21 Jan 2008 23:45:51 +0000

He should have the opportunity to finish the mission as needed in Iraq.

By: Mike D.

Mike D. — Mon, 21 Jan 2008 23:43:26 +0000

I hear you, breeze. thats why no GOP voter is allowed to stay home in Nov. because their favored world view may be insufficiently represented in whoever the nominee is. maybe that's too heavy, but its my opin-Yon

By: cool breeze

cool breeze — Mon, 21 Jan 2008 23:38:18 +0000

Mike D.,

A sobering, if not chilling thought.

By: Mike D.

Mike D. — Mon, 21 Jan 2008 23:34:20 +0000

Heres something to consider in November no matter WHO the nominees of each party are: if the Dems win and keep control of Congress, I bet you a donut that on January 22nd, the Dems recall Gen Dave and haul him in chains in front of Barbara Boxer, Dick Durbin, Maxine Waters and Jihad John Murtha, ably assisted by the ACLU, CAIR and countless NGOs, to face a hurricane of warcrime accusations.

This is very liklely to happen if the Dems win, (less so with Obambi than Hillary) and would never happen if a Republican wins.

Something to chew on if youre one of those thinking of staying home in November because the guy we nominate isn’t 1000% perfect on every issue,(and he wont be, whoever he is).

By: Speakup

Speakup — Mon, 21 Jan 2008 23:31:50 +0000

Promotion

Yeah?

Petraeus doesn’t need credibility, NATO does.

By: a capella

a capella — Mon, 21 Jan 2008 23:30:21 +0000

Most of the NATO allies who have been doing a fair share of the fighting, like the Dutch and Canadians are beginning to grumble a bit anyway. The rest of them, like the Germans and Italians, spend their time on break drinking coffee. I wonder if there isn’t going to be a manpower migration of our front line guys from Iraq to Afghanistan, and this is a prep move.

By: rockhauler

rockhauler — Mon, 21 Jan 2008 23:25:18 +0000

There are news reports that the taliban in Pakistan can field large groups of fighters, and that the tempo of the conflict in Pakistan is increasing. In other words, it’s getting serious in the ‘tribal areas’.

Then there were news reports out of Russia about their new preemptive nuclear strike tactic coupled with their more aggressive military operational stance, and military build up.

Also, the conflict between Hamas/Hezbolla and Israel appears to be increasingly active, plus the recent provocation by the Iranian Revolutionary Guard toward the US Navy.

What does it all mean? Magic eight ball says, “the future is cloudy”.

By: John from OPFOR

John from OPFOR — Mon, 21 Jan 2008 23:24:56 +0000

I think we can expect him to stay in Iraq for another year or so. After that, hell…. he’ll probably be asked to save Afghanistan or save NATO, one of the two. Or both, since I’m pretty sure they’re related.

For a moment “CENTCOM Commander” popped into my head….

By: LevStrauss

LevStrauss — Mon, 21 Jan 2008 23:23:29 +0000

It may be a good move for Petraeus, who knows how much longer we will be able to afford Iraq. The political sites are for the most part surprisingly mum on the world markets. Funny how many people are going to wake up with a Dow most likely 400-500 points lower and that will probably be the starting point.