US President Barack Obama’s choice of General David Petraeus as CIA director will bolster his national security team with a Republican favorite who is sometimes seen as a future White House aspirant.
The pick put a quick end to occasional Washington speculation that the commanding general in Afghanistan might ride to the rescue of Republicans as a White House or vice presidential candidate against Obama next year.
Petraeus, credited with turning around the war in Iraq, had denied interest in a post-military political career in recent years even while giving interviews and making speeches with the zeal of a politician during his trips home.
The imminent departure of Secretary of Defense Robert Gates, a Republican holdover from former US president George W. Bush’s administration, left a need on Obama’s national security team for a reliable conservative with allies among Republicans in Congress.
“Republicans see him as a solid conservative with obviously strong ties to the military and the intelligence aspects of defense policy,” said Cal Jillson, a political scientist at Southern Methodist University in Texas.
“This is good for everybody involved. It’s good for Obama and it’s good for Petraeus,” Jillson said. “Petraeus is the leading military officer of his generation but it was not clear where he would go after Afghanistan.”
The pick drew applause from Republican lawmakers.
“Without question, General David Petraeus is a national treasure,” Republican Senator Lindsey Graham said. “I believe his talents will be well utilized as the new director of the CIA.”
The appointment of Petraeus is part of a restructuring of Obama’s national security team that includes naming CIA Director Leon Panetta to be the new defense secretary and trouble-shooting diplomat Ryan Crocker, the former ambassador in Iraq and Pakistan, being named ambassador to Afghanistan.
Not every Republican praised the choices, however, with one consultant questioning why the experienced Petraeus, Panetta and Crocker were being rotated again into important national security jobs.
“There are 310 million Americans and Obama keeps choosing the same guys over and over,” Republican strategist Rich Galen said. “Is there nobody else?”
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