ADM. WILLIAM J. FALLON TO REPLACE GEN. JOHN ABIZAID; DAVID PETRAEUS FOR GEN. GEORGE CASEY

ABCNews ^

[Txsleuth]

ABC NEWS is absolutely the LAST network news source I would believe.

The LAST network that I would believe, is MSNBC, then ABC/CNN...then, the rest of the network news....and finally, Fox News.

However, I always come to FR for the REAL news...LOL

[pissant]

Close enough. Gotta luv him.

[RobbyS]

If we get another Abrams, we will do fine.

[river rat]

"He subsequently earned MPA and Ph.D. degrees in international relations from Princeton University’s Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs, and later served as an Assistant Professor of International Relations at the US Military Academy. He also completed a fellowship at Georgetown University."

THAT section leaves me more than a little nervous...

Professional warriors are called into play, after Diplomacy fails..
With our Islamist enemy, we have CENTURIES of evidence that Diplomacy doesn't work.

Warriors are tasked with killing folks or destroying places that represent a threat to force or nation protection.

Wars are fought by warriors, not Diplomats..
Diplomatically fighting wars has been our #1 problem since the Korean War.

I hope this General is not another "diplomat", when we need a dedicated and focused WARRIOR.

Semper Fi

[TexKat]

ADMIRAL WILLIAM J. FALLON, USN

Lieutenant General David H. Petraeus

[furquhart]

You don't get to be a General these days without all of that stuff.

But, in this case, he's clearly been advanced as a combat officer. Commander of the 101st, etc.

[Cicero]

Yes, that was in the back of my mind. I don't know anything, and there may be other reasons for the appointment such as his diplomatic training, but it's interesting.

[jwalsh07]

Impossible, General Petraeus was banished to ACAC and Command of Fort Leavenworth by Bush because of tension on Iraq.

I know this because the MSM told me it was so.

[Elsiejay]

Gen. Honore. He, or a clone in mufti, should be our ambassador to the feckless UN.

[La Enchiladita]

Petraeus is very invested in OIF, having led the charge. One of the tough guys, I read about him in In the Company of Soldiers by Rick Atkinson.

[Txsleuth]

FWIW...I just heard Frank Gaffney being very complimentary of the choice of Petraeus.

[Wolverine]

LT GEN DAVID PETRAEUS was the top trainer of Iraqi soldiers. Now he is the CG of Ft. Leavenworth...and the USA CG&SC.

 

The first entry gives you his experience in Iraq. Sunday, October 01, 2005  

The second entry is a current article in Der Spiegel. December 18, 2006

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This is another address given at his alma mater, Princeton. This is excellent background...before you read the Der Spiegel article.

 

I learned more here than in weeks of reading regular press accounts regarding the training and equipping of Iraqi forces.

 

Lt. Gen. David Petraeus speaks at Princeton

Sunday, October 01, 2005  

http://72.14.203.104/search?q=cache:drl012emZekJ:tigerhawk.blogspot.com/2005/10/lt-gen-david-petraeus-speaks-at.html+GENERAL+DAVID+PETRAEUS+princeton&hl=en&gl=us&ct=clnk&cd=1

 

http://www.princeton.edu/WebMedia/special/

Recommended highly: Listen and watch his presentation (Excellent video, you can see his slides).: October 1, 2005 - Keynote Speaker: "Lt. General David Petraeus"

VideoNet  56K 350K  56K 350K  (He has achieved something close to god-like status among the Kurds).

---

 

SPIEGEL ONLINE - December 18, 2006, 04:28 PM
URL: http://www.spiegel.de/international/spiegel/0,1518,455199,00.html

SPIEGEL INTERVIEW WITH US GENERAL DAVID PETRAEUS

"We Have to Raise our Sights Beyond the Range of an M-16"

[Arizona Carolyn]

I appologize if this sounds harsh, but by chance, did you follow him during the beginning of the war or hear the Col's on Fox talk about him? This is one awsome and very brilliant soldier.

[Lancey Howard]

Sounds like a couple of good moves.

[LS]

Yep, that's where I read about him too. Enemy mortar rounds start dropping near where he has his maps spread out on a Jeep, and he whips out his pistol and takes off after the terrorist!

[advance_copy]

Did they find someone like this rotten yankee to command our forces in Iraq? (BTW, he was a great American hero and an outstanding General.)



If so, find out what he's drinking and buy it for all the Generals.

[river rat]

"... did you follow him during the beginning of the war or hear the Col's on Fox talk about him?"

No I didn't...

I was focused on the U.S. Marine columns racing toward Baghdad in record breaking and history making manner ---- since that is where my extended family and friends had loved ones at risk.

Also -- I don't form personal opinions on the basis of comments from paid "experts" on television..... Fox or CNN.

I hope everyone's confidence in this man is justified...
We certainly need an ass kicking warrior in charge of things.

Semper Fi

[Garvin]

We need true warrior's in command at all levels!

If they don't produce, replace them!

I also don't like the arm chair paid "experts".

Semper Fi

[La Enchiladita]

In 1991, shortly after taking command of a battalion in the 101st, Petraeus was watching an infantry squad practice assaulting a bunker with live grenades and ammunition. Forty yards away, a rifleman tripped and fell, hard. Petraeus never saw the muzzle flash. The M-16 round struck just above the "A" in his uniform name tag on the right side of his chest, and blew through his back. Had it hit above the "A" in "U.S. Army," on the left side over his heart, he would have been dead before he hit the ground.

He staggered back and collapsed. Standing next to him was Brigadier General Jack Keane, the assistant division commander, who by 2003 would be the Army's four-star vice chief of staff. "Dave, you've been shot," Keane told him...

Keane later described the day for me. "He was getting weaker, you could see that. He said, 'I'm gonna be okay. I'll stay with it.' We got him to the hospital at Campbell and they jammed a chest tube in. It's excruciating. Normally a guy screams and his body comes right off the table. All Petraeus did was grunt a little bit. His body didn't even move. The surgeon told me, "That's the toughest guy I ever had my hands on.'"

A medevac helicopter flew Petraeus, with Keane at his side, to Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville, sixty miles away. "It was a Saturday and I was afraid the top guys wouldn't be on duty. I had them call ahead to make sure their best thoracic surgeon was available. We got off the helicopter and there's this guy they'd called off the links, still in his golf outfit..." It was Dr. Bill Frist, who a decade later would become majority leader of the U.S. Senate. More than five hours of surgery followed.

Excerpted from In the Company of Soldiers by Rick Atkinson.

[Arizona Carolyn]

He was leading the charge we were all so impressed with.