KING DAVID RETURNS
By RALPH PETERS
January 5, 2007 -- IT'S official: Dave Petraeus, one of the U.S. Army's most- impressive leaders, is headed back to Baghdad to take charge. The assignment means a fourth star and the chance to save a desperate situation - or preside over a grim strategic failure.
With back-to-back tours of duty in Iraq behind him and the most-positive image among Iraqis of any U.S. leader, military or civilian, Petraeus is a natural choice. His intelligence, drive, devotion to service and negotiating skill make the lean, young-looking general seem perfect.
The question is whether Gen. Petraeus is the right choice - or if he'll merely be the final executor of a failed policy.
The general has a winning public demeanor - when he led the 101st Airborne Division in northern Iraq in 2003, he proved such a superb diplomat that the Kurds called him "Malik Daoud" - King David - as a mark of respect. He listened patiently, spent money wisely, used force intelligently and truly did win hearts and minds.
He went on to tackle the reconstruction of Iraq's security forces - no easy task, given the ruinous legacy of L. Paul Bremer's term as viceroy. Where others had faltered, Petraeus appeared to succeed.
The Pentagon brought him back to Ft. Leavenworth for a breather - formally to imbue the Army's educational system and doctrine production with knowledge from the front, but also to give him a break before he worked himself to death.
Petraeus is the sort of soldier who would have stayed on indefinitely in Iraq, setting aside all personal concerns in the interests of the mission. President Bush respects him and even the media admire him.
So what could possibly be doubtful about the choice of Gen. Petraeus to take over the leadership of our forces in Iraq? ...
The New General In Iraq
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