NATO Command

Petraeus in line to be chief of NATO
January 22, 2008

WASHINGTON: The US Defence Department is considering moving the main architect of the American troop "surge" strategy in Iraq, General David Petraeus, out of the war-torn country and giving him a top NATO command job.

Citing an unnamed senior Pentagon official, reports said the department was weighing "a next assignment for Petraeus", now the top US military commander in Iraq, and that thejob of NATO supreme commander was a possibility.

"He deserves one, and that has also always been a highly prestigious position," the The New York Times quoted the official as saying. "So he is a candidate for that job, but there have been no final decisions and nothing on the timing."

One of the proposed scenarios calls for nominating General Petraeus for the NATO post before the end of September

If everything goes as planned, General Petraeus may stay in Iraq for some time after that before moving to the alliance's headquarters in Brussels.

The leading candidates to replace him are Lieutenant General Stanley McChrystal, head of special operations in Iraq, and Lieutenant General Peter Chiarelli, a senior military assistant to Defence Secretary Robert Gates, according to the report.

Under the "surge" strategy advocated by General Petraeus and fully espoused by President George W. Bush, about 30,000 extra troops were sent to Iraq early last year in a bid to quell violence.

According to a Pentagon report last month, the surge has been working, with US forces achieving "significant security progress" in Iraq over the past three months, with the number of attacks down 62 per cent.

General Petraeus has been repeatedly praised by leading Republicans as the man who could get the job done in Iraq. US military intelligence experts said yesterday that al-Qa'ida in Iraq was on the run, forcing it to be more selective about targets.

AFP
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,23086329-2703,00.html