GEN David Petraeus retiring from Army and taking charge of CIA!

[eastariel]

He's not competitive. He leads by example.

[HalfghostWarner]

General David Patreus is such a great man, right up there with Dwight Eisenhower and the Field-marshal Viscount Montgomery. I heard quite a bit of news about his work on ABC Radio here in Australia. Not only a brilliant General, he did an awful lot of diplomacy for a military guy, and thus softened the insurgency more than mere military might can do alone. He's the right man for the job.

[noobkiller837]

My buddy is going to be an Army Ranger General in a couple years. The pure fact that this man made it to General, is amazing. it's always great to know that we've got people like him on our side.

[midcitygym]

Excellent post.

[dogwood912]

We will be safer having Petraeus lead the CIA, there could be no better choice. His knowledge of military tactics, coupled with the resources of the CIA, will no doubt send many Islamists to meet their virgins.

[babyminnow]

@dogwood912 Did you know the virgin bit might be a mistranslation, and could mean something like 72 raisins or fruit?

[jeguay5128]

Petraeus for President and yes as a Republican

[JesseBennett2010]

Very good video! Never knew you had got to know David Petraeus.

[thesunreport]

v.interesting and informative!! : )

[14842]

interesting :))

[lazyperfectionist1]

Maybe I've got a couple wires crossed, but isn't Petraus the guy Obama kept assigning to draw up new strategies with Iraq, who kept coming up with strategies that increased our troop presence there?

If the plan is to withdraw out troops by the end of the year, why wait?

[armyveteran101st]

@lazyperfectionist1 Bush assigned Petraeus to Iraq, hoping the implementation of his new Counterinsurgency tactics would work. They did for the most part, even though the bribes given to leading insurgents also had an important effect. In any event, Petraeus's presence in Iraq made it possible for violence to subside and for negotiations of a withdrawal agreement to take place. That in turn allowed Obama to start meaningful troop level reduction, on a pace that should get us out by year's end.

[armyveteran101st]

@lazyperfectionist1 One thing that must be understood is that withdrawing thousands of troops from a theater of operations is a very delicate and complicated task that cannot conceivable be achieved in a few days or weeks. A responsible, tactically sound withdrawal of troops needs to be carefully planned, because troops are at their most vulnerable when they are executing that type of maneuver. Not to mention the fact that removing thousands of pieces of weaponry and gear is a task unto itself.

[lazyperfectionist1]

@armyveteran101st What you are saying here is that this manner of withdrawal must be preceded by a number of key developments. My question is, "What developments?" What are they waiting for? How long did it take us to withdraw from West Germany? How long did it take us to withdraw from Western Europe? What about Japan? What about South Korea? What about Kuwait? What kinds of things had to happen in each of these cases to enable our withdrawal?

[armyveteran101st]

@lazyperfectionist1 Not really. The only development is that the political decision to withdraw has to be made, (Obama made that decision quite some time ago), and implemented on the ground, which is what has been taking place for the last 18 months or so. In all honesty, (and even though I would like for that to be the case), I don't think we will withdraw completely from Iraq. I think a small contingent of U.S. military advisers and trainers will stay there, similar to what happened in Kosovo.

[lazyperfectionist1]

@armyveteran101st "The only development is that the political decision to withdraw has to be made,"

Then what are they waiting for in order to make that decision?

[armyveteran101st]

@lazyperfectionist1 Nobody's waiting for anything. Like I wrote in my last reply to you, Obama made that decision a long time ago, and it is in the process of being implemented. Have you been reading my replies to your questions at all?

[lazyperfectionist1]

@armyveteran101st Yes, including where you said, "A responsible, tactically sound withdrawal of troops needs to be carefully planned, because troops are at their most vulnerable when they are executing that type of maneuver."

So I asked what hurdles need to be overcome before they can just pull out. What is standing in the way? How can getting our troops out of Iraq possibly require so much more time than getting them in did?

[armyveteran101st]

@lazyperfectionist1 No offense, but it looks as if I have to start writing my replies using 7th grade English so you can assimilate them . You can't withdraw forces that are fully deployed and engaged in military activity overnight, and particularly not when in a situation like the one in Iraq. It isn't physically possible, and Obama doesn't have magic powers and a magic wand. Even if he did, you can't just get out and leave a void behind you after altering the order of things like we did.

[bjr43]

I'm certain he would've made an excellent Defence Secretary, but CIA will do.

[armyveteran101st]

@bjr43 That's right. I think he would excel in pretty much any position within the National Security area. I also happen to think that he would be a pretty decent President if he ever decided to run, because he is someone like Colin Powell, not given to side with extremists and people who are willfully ignorant of our reality.

[jdmifsud14]

I agree 100%!!

[patsy352]

Petraeus is a hero in my opinion! Thank you for posting this vid! So many of the good never get a mention and heck yes I want this man head of the CIA! Who else???

[HatterMadigan]

General David Petraeus is a bad ass.