Gates says Petraeus staying put in Iraq

[unhappycamper]

Gates says Petraeus staying put in Iraq
By William H. McMichael - Staff writer
Posted : Saturday Jan 26, 2008 0:03:30 EST

Despite rumors to the contrary, the top U.S. commander in Iraq is staying put. And no decision will be made about shortening Army deployments to the Middle East wars until after Army Gen. David Petraeus delivers a new assessment on the Iraq war in March.

Defense Secretary Robert Gates opened a Thursday news conference at the Pentagon by seeking to counter a Jan. 21 New York Times report that officials are considering Petraeus for the top NATO command before the end of September.

Gates said President Bush, a strong Petraeus supporter, has no plans to move the architect of his 2007 troop surge. Petraeus has commanded Multi-National Force-Iraq since Feb. 10, 2007.

“With respect to General Petraeus’ next assignment, the president is pretty clear that he wants General Petraeus to stay right where he is at least through late fall and maybe the end of the year,” Gates said.

One could quibble over whether there is really much difference between September and “late fall.” But the news conference was dominated by questions on whether the U.S. will provide military assistance to beleaguered Pakistan, and the Petraeus situation wasn’t raised again.


Rest of article at: http://www.armytimes.com/news/2008/01/military_petraeus_080124w/