By Pfc. Joshua Hutcheson, 101st Airborne Division

When I read today that President Obama had replaced Gen. Stanley McChrystal with former Iraq and current Centcom commander Gen. David Petraeus, I nodded in approval.  Though it is essentially a demotion for Petraeus (though I expect he’ll be back in a higher-up position before long), I think it makes sense, given the general’s experience in the region.  Allah makes some good points to this end:

There were a lot of reasons to pick him as McChrystal’s successor: He literally wrote the book on the counterinsurgency strategy that we’re following in Afghanistan; he’s deeply respected for his Iraq success, which should minimize grumbling in the ranks about McChrystal’s ouster; he’s the head of Centcom, so he already has plenty of experience dealing with the Afghan and Pakistani leaderships; and he won’t stand for the sort of backbiting among his subordinates that the White House and Karl Eikenberry had to endure from McChrystal’s team.

If Obama’s game plan for Afghanistan is still to begin a withdrawal in 2011, he’ll need somebody who can get up to speed pretty quickly.  Although Petraus’s last field command was Iraq and not Afghanistan, and he will find some new challenges with a different culture and terrain, his time in the former country will allow him to assume command faster than another general might.  I don’t wish to suggest another Afghanistan-based general might not be able to learn the ropes quickly, but for Obama, time will be of the essence if he wants existing missions completed in time for the planned start of withdrawal.  Someone who’s already had a similar command will have less of a learning curve.  And, as Allah says, his Centcom position also gave him at least some contact with high-level Afghan and Pakistani officials, something another general might not have.

Another reason for appointing Patraeus is his image.  This is the guy who got Iraq back under control with the surge, and for that reason he is respected by Americans on both sides of the aisle.  There is also a stark difference he presents as a person – Petraeus’ very classy and conciliatory demeanor versus McChrystal’s apparent disdain for civilian authority, to the point where he makes it well known.  When you put all of that together, it’s obvious that Petraeus is just the person to help restore a proper working relationship between the civilian government and the military command, or at least the image of one.

That is to say, even if the division between the two does run deeper than just McChrystal, the image that everything is peachy could be what the administration wants right now, especially after the Rolling Stone blowup.  Obviously, it is best if the relationship is genuine, but putting the idea that our military and civilian government don’t like each very much in the mind of our enemies doesn’t seem like a great idea either.  I think Petraeus can help mend both image and real problems (if one actually exists), though it certainly will take an effort on Obama’s part as well.

Overall, I think the President made a wise move.