Gen. David Petraeus
Posted at 5:04pm on Feb. 11, 2008 Petraeus Wins Another One for the Counterinsurgency
This Battle Was Not in Baghdad
By Mark I
Secretary of Defense Robert Gates emerged from a meeting with Iraq commander Gen. David Petraeus and announced that he is inclined to take the general’s view that a pause in the withdrawal of troops from Iraq this summer is warranted. Petraeus has been advocating for the troop drawdown to take a break for a strategic assessment after U.S. force levels in Iraq reach 15 brigades this July.
“I think that the notion of a brief period of consolidation and evaluation probably does make sense. I had been kind of headed in that direction, as well.”
The Secretary’s acceptance of General Petraeus’s recommendation all but ends a debate that had been brewing within the Administration over the troop reductions. Members of the Joint Chiefs of Staff had come out against a pause earlier this month over concerns for the long term health of the Army and Marine Corps. Just like he did when the surge was proposed, however, Petraeus looks to have defeated the Chiefs in an internal battle for the president’s ear.
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