White House summons US general to explain himself

[classicman]

Whats the difference between the two? Is Petraeus just a better politician?

President Barack Obama has asked Gen. David Petraeus to replace Gen. Stanley McChrystal as the top U.S. commander in Afghanistan, he said Wednesday.

Obama relieved McChrystal of duty over disparaging comments the general's staff made about top White House officials in an article in Rolling Stone magazine.

Petraeus, a counterinsurgency expert, was the architect of the "surge" of U.S. forces in Iraq, which some credit with turning the tide of the war. He was promoted to head of the U.S. military's Central Command in October 2008 by President George W. Bush.

His appointment to lead the U.S. war effort on the ground in Afghanistan requires Senate confirmation.

Petraeus all but literally wrote the book on fighting against guerrilla resistance, overseeing the drafting of the Army/Marine Corps Counterinsurgency Field Manuel between stints in Iraq.