From Iraq to CENTCOM

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From Iraq to CENTCOM
By Joseph Giordono, Stars and Stripes
Mideast edition, Monday, September 15, 2008

BAGHDAD - When Gen. David Petraeus leaves Baghdad on Tuesday to take control of U.S. Central Command, he will do so as the military face of the Iraq war and of the strategy that many credit with pulling the country back from the brink of civil war.

But in the coming months, colleagues and analysts say, wider regional tests in Afghanistan, Pakistan and Iran will challenge the man who has become perhaps the most high-profile American general in a generation.

Petraeus, until now largely defined as a counterinsurgency expert, will have to adapt. In his new post, he will oversee actual combat in Iraq and Afghanistan, along with warfare of a different kind in dealing with Iran, Pakistan, Syria and other regional problems.

Those who have watched him closest in recent years say it’s likely he will adapt, in part because of the advisers he will bring with him. Petraeus has been credited with seeking a wide range of civilian and military expertise, even if those around him were presenting ideas that challenged his assumptions.

"He always surrounds himself with the best and the brightest," said Peter Mansoor, a retired Army colonel who served as Petraeus’ executive officer in Baghdad and is now a professor at Ohio State University. "He’ll always draft for intelligence and capability."


Rest of article at: http://www.stripes.com/article.asp?section=104&article=57409