The Pentagon is considering appointing General David Petraeus the chief of the NATO command later this year, a move that would give the top US commander in Iraq a high-level post during the next administration, but which has raised concerns about the practice of rotating war commanders.
"We clearly are looking at a next assignment for Petraeus," said a senior Pentagon official, referring to the NATO assignment. "He deserves one and that has also always been a highly prestigious position. So he is a candidate for that job, but there have been no final decisions and nothing on the timing."
The question of Petraeus' future comes as the Pentagon is beginning the process of changing top-level assignments across the globe this year. US President George W. Bush has been an enthusiastic supporter of Petraeus, whom he has credited with overseeing a troop increase and counterinsurgency plan credited with reducing the sectarian violence in Iraq, and some officials say that the president would want to keep Petraeus in Iraq as long as possible.
In one approach under discussion, Petraeus would be nominated and confirmed for the NATO post before the end of September. That is when Congress is expected to break for the presidential election, just weeks before the climax of a campaign in which the Iraq War, and the troop increase in particular, has been a key issue. The general might stay in Iraq for some time after that before moving to the alliance's headquarters in Brussels.
If Petraeus is shifted from the post as top Iraq commander, two leading candidates to replace him are Lieutenant General Stanley McChrystal, who is running the classified Special Operations activities in Iraq, and Lieutenant General Peter Chiarelli, a former Army Corps commander in Iraq and Secretary of Defense Robert Gates' senior military assistant.
By this fall, Petraeus would have served nearly 18 months in command in Iraq and would have accumulated more than 40 months of service in Iraq in three tours there since 2003. In the NATO job, Petraeus would play a major role in shaping the Cold War-era alliance's identity.
Some experts, however, say that Petraeus' departure would jeopardize US efforts in Iraq, especially since the No. 2 officer in Iraq, Lieutenant General Raymond Odierno, is scheduled to complete his tour and leave Iraq in the middle of next month.
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