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Face Of Iraq Policy To Lead Centcom

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By BILLY HOUSE

The Tampa Tribune

Published: April 24, 2008

WASHINGTON - The choice of Gen. David Petraeus to lead Tampa-based U.S. Central Command will provide the general who has become the face of the war in Iraq with a larger theater of operations throughout the Middle East.

At the same time, Defense Secretary Robert Gates said President Bush will nominate Lt. Gen. Raymond T. Odierno to take over Petraeus' current job as top U.S. commander in Iraq.

Odierno served under Petraeus as day-to-day Iraq commander before stepping down in February.

The personnel changes come at a critical time for decisions on troop levels in Iraq, currently at 156,000. Petraeus testified before Congress this month that after five U.S. brigades withdraw from Iraq by July, he will require at least 45 days to evaluate the impact of the reductions on security before assessing whether to recommend further reductions.

Gates, however, said Petraeus will decide whether to bring out another brigade, about 3,500 troops, before he leaves Iraq in "late summer or early fall," suggesting an immediate decision after the 45-day evaluation.

Sign Of Renewed Attention?

Petraeus' nomination could portend a renewed American focus on Afghanistan, where the U.S. war effort is widely recognized to be lagging, with violence by the Taliban and al-Qaida on the rise.

"One fascinating question will be the degree to which Petraeus' Iraq counterinsurgency doctrine will work in Afghanistan," said Michael O'Hanlon, a military analyst at the Brookings Institution.

Less certain is how it will affect Centcom operations at MacDill Air Force Base.

"I think that has yet to be determined - we won't know until he gets there and begins to put his leadership style in place," said U.S. Rep. C.W. Bill Young of Indian Shores, the ranking Republican on the House Appropriations Defense Subcommittee.

Both Young and Florida's Republican Sen. Mel Martinez applauded the White House and Gates for selecting Petraeus to take over command of Centcom.

Martinez said he looks forward to the general's "swift confirmation" by the Senate. Gates said he did not anticipate Petraeus leaving Iraq until late summer or early fall.

But Tampa's Democratic U.S. Rep Kathy Castor, a member of the House Armed Services Committee, said that while she, too, values Petraeus' service to the country, she can only "hope and pray" he is up to such an important new command.

"He will have to address the consequences of the misguided Bush Iraq priorities and the growing strategic risk that makes our country less able to respond to threats to our national security," Castor said.

Centcom is responsible for running the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, as well as military operations across wide areas of the Middle East, Africa and Asia.

Relocation Unlikely

Placing Petraeus at the head of Centcom "signals the administration intention of broadening the perspective on Iraq as being just part of a larger, regional challenge," said Christopher Preble, director of foreign policy studies at the Cato Institute in Washington.

He and other military experts, however, say there is no indication that the selection of Petraeus - largely associated with leading from the front in Iraq - reflects any intent to relocate the command's main operations, such as to Qatar, where Centcom's forward headquarters is located.

Centcom's main headquarters is located in Tampa, partly because of the political sensitivity of locating it in the Middle East.

"Operationally, this is not going to make much of a difference," Preble predicted, even if Petraeus can be expected to be only "nominally" in Tampa, he said.

"If confirmed, it is expected that Gen. Petraeus will operate out of the Tampa headquarters, with frequent trips to the 27-country area of responsibility," said Robert Prucha, deputy director of Centcom public affairs.

There also is no reason to believe Petraeus' arrival will have any immediate impact on the recently announced reductions of 1,100 positions at the command's Tampa-based operations.

The previous Central Command chief, Adm. William J. Fallon, chose early retirement in March after rankling the Bush administration with public comments that seemed to suggest differences with the White House over Iran.

Petraeus is seen as more in step with the Bush administration's intentions to stay the course in Iraq and keep the pressure on Iran.

Petraeus has repeatedly pointed to Iran for helping to exacerbate the violence in Iraq.

When Martinez specifically asked Petraeus about Iran during an appearance last month on Capital Hill, Petraeus said the United States has evidence of groups of Iraqi insurgents being recruited, brought into Iran, trained and funded by an elite unit of Iran's Revolutionary Guard.

Petraeus also told Martinez that some of the rockets being used to fire on the international zone and U.S. troops in Baghdad come from Iran and that "there's a clear sense" the Iranian Revolutionary Guard participated in some "direction" of those attacks.

Petraeus led the 101st Airborne Division during the Iraq invasion, then returned as a three-star general overseeing the building of Iraqi forces before taking his current job - spending nearly four of the past five years in Iraq.

Reporter John W. Allman contributed to this story. Information from The Washington Post and The New York Times also was used. Reporter Billy House can be reached at (202) 662-7673 or bhouse@tampatrib.com.

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