Washington (CNN) - Gen. David Petraeus told his Senate confirmation hearing Thursday that "I wanted this job" as he explained his willingness to retire from the military after 37 years to become CIA director.
The 58-year-old commanding general of U.S. forces in Afghanistan told the Senate Intelligence Committee he would lead the nation's largest intelligence agency fully independent of his ties to the military.
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Washington (CNN) - President Barack Obama on Thursday shuffled familiar faces in his national security team to deal with the pending retirement of Defense Secretary Robert Gates, reflecting a desire for continuity and the changing nature of modern warfare.
Obama named Central Intelligence Agency Director Leon Panetta as his nominee to succeed Gates, with Gen. David Petraeus chosen to succeed Panetta at the CIA.
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WASHINGTON (CNN) – In the most extensive reshaping of the Obama administration's national security team to date, the president will name CIA director Leon Panetta as his nominee to succeed Robert Gates as defense secretary, a senior defense official and another U.S. official said Wednesday.
It took a meeting with President Obama to convince Panetta to accept the job, a source familiar with the discussions told CNN. Panetta has been happy serving at the CIA, but "believes strongly in public service and answering the call from the commander-in-chief," the source said.
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Washington (CNN) – The Obama administration is considering General David Petraeus, the top US commander in Afghanistan, as the next possible CIA director, an Administration official confirms to CNN. The official would not be identified because no announcements have been made about upcoming personnel decisions.
The move would be just one of a complex shuffle set to take place through the rest of the year as key members of the president's national security team are set to depart, including Secretary of Defense Robert Gates who has long wanted to retired, and The Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Adm. Mike Mullen, whose term is set to end this year.
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(CNN) - Gen. David Petraeus, the top U.S. commander in Afghanistan, is ordering an investigation into a scathing Rolling Stone magazine report that says the Army ordered soldiers trained in "psychological operations" to manipulate visiting lawmakers to secure more troops and funding for the war, the military said Thursday.
A lieutenant colonel told the magazine that a military team at Afghanistan's Camp Eggers was ordered by Gen. William Caldwell, a three-star general in charge of training Afghan troops, to perform psychological operations on visiting VIPs over a four-month period last year.
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Washington (CNN) - Holly Petraeus, the wife of the top U.S. general in Afghanistan, is getting a high profile role of her own. Thursday she will be named to a key position in the new Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, according to a source who would not speak for attribution because the announcement has yet to be made.
Petraeus, a longtime advocate for military families, will be named to head the Office for Service Member Affairs, tasked with protecting military families from abusive lending practices.
FULL STORY Washington (CNN) - On the eve of the latest White House Afghanistan update, the incoming head of the House Armed Services Committee said he wants to hear directly from the commander, Gen. David Petraeus, to determine what progress has been made.
Rep. Howard "Buck" McKeon, R-California, who next month will take over as chairman of the defense committee, said Wednesday he will ask Petraeus to testify.
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(CNN) – The commanding U.S. general in Afghanistan says success in the war there will require a long and steady U.S. commitment.
"We will have an enduring commitment here in some fashion," Gen. David Petraeus said in an interview broadcast Sunday on the NBC program "Meet the Press."
He later added: "I think this is going require a substantial, significant commitment and that it is going to have to be enduring to some degree."
The Obama administration has been criticized for its announced strategy to start a troop withdrawal in August 2011, with conservatives saying it signals U.S. intentions to the enemy while liberals complain it doesn't end the war soon enough.
Washington (CNN) – One of the key goals of the new commander in Afghanistan, Gen. David Petraeus, is to try to settle the debate on the significance of the July 2011 date, according to an International Security Assistance Force official familiar with Petraeus' thinking.
After a month in the job, during which he stayed mostly out of public view, the general is preparing a round of interviews with media outlets.
July 2011 is the date President Barack Obama has set to begin reducing the number of U.S. troops in Afghanistan. But just what that will mean continues to be a question that the administration is struggling to answer clearly.
Gen. David Petraeus, pictured here meeting with Afghan President Hamid Karzai, told troops in the war torn country that "The decisive terrain is the human terrain. The people are the center of gravity."
(Photo Credit: Getty Images/File)
(CNN) - Fight the Taliban "relentlessly." Don't tolerate corruption. Drink "lots of tea" with the locals.
Those admonitions are among the two dozen guidelines for counterinsurgency warfare that Gen. David Petraeus issued to U.S. and allied troops in Afghanistan on Sunday. In his first major public pronouncement since taking command in early July, Petraeus urged American troops and the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force to learn and adapt to the culture of Afghanistan while battling the Taliban insurgents and their allies.
"The decisive terrain is the human terrain," Petraeus wrote. "The people are the center of gravity. Only by providing them security and earning their trust and confidence can the Afghan government and ISAF prevail."
Petraeus led the 2007-2008 campaign to stabilize Iraq after years of insurgent and sectarian warfare following the U.S. invasion of 2003. Some of the steps he took there - ordering troops to work in closely with local allies in outposts close to the people, patrol on foot and without sunglasses and cultivate ties with the local population - are included in Sunday's four-page order.
"Earn the people's trust, talk to them, ask them questions and learn about their lives," he wrote. Coalition troops should be "a good guest," learn the local history and "make sure you have the full story."
"Don't be a pawn in someone else's game," he wrote. "Spend time, listen, consult and drink lots of tea."
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