General Petraeus has been the guiding force and the man in charge of the 15-month surge that has brought about the amazing progress seen in Iraq to which one commander, Major-General Mark Hertling, believes has hit the "irreversible point".
General Petraeus will still in charge of overseeing Iraq, he will also be responsible for addressing an increasingly violent insurgency in Afghanistan and other important national security interests throughout the CentCom region," said Levin, D-Michigan.
Among those other issues is Iran, which the United States accuses of meddling in the five-year-old Iraq war and of pursuing nuclear weapons. Iran conducted a series of missile tests on Wednesday, and Israel conducted an air force exercise over the eastern Mediterranean Sea in June that U.S. officials suggest was meant as a show of strength toward the Islamic republic.
President Bush named Petraeus to the Central Command post after the March resignation of Adm. William Fallon, who said reports that he was at odds with the Bush administration over how to deal with Iran had made it impossible for him to continue in that job.
Petraeus led the Army's 101st Airborne Division during the 2003 invasion of Iraq and drew praise for his management of the occupation forces in the northern part of the country, including the city of Mosul. He also led efforts to train a new Iraqi army and was one of the major writers of the Army's counterinsurgency manual.
General Petraeus' second-in-command, Lt. Gen. Raymond Odierno, was also promoted and confirmed by the Senate, with a 96 to 1 vote, to a Four Star General and will be replacing General Petraeus in Baghdad.
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