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July 25, 2008 10:03:46 PM CDT

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General's Iraqi Shift Mirrors US Strategy

Posted Feb 16, 08 5:02 PM CST in US 

(Newser) – Gen Raymond Odierno stepped down from his post as the No. 2 general in Iraq this week, having evolved from a proponent of heavy-handed tactics to a believer in nonlethal methods to win favor with Iraqis and reduce violence, the Washington Post reports. In a lengthy profile of the so-called General O, the Post says his conversion in many ways mirrors the larger shift in strategy of the US military.

"Gen Odierno has experienced an awakening," said a retired colonel, one of many former critics who complained that Odierno's troops were alienating the local population. Odierno, who says his early reputation has been exaggerated, nevertheless says he had a pivotal moment in 2006, when he decided to reach out to Sunni tribesman. "I might have had a harder time doing that in '03 and '04," he said. "But I realized it was time."

Source Washington Post

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Lt. Gen. Raymond Odierno, the no. 2 commander of U.S. troops in Iraq, meets with with tribal leaders in Quarghuli Village, about 20 kilometers (12 miles) south of Baghdad, Iraq on Wednesday, Oct. 17,...   (Associated Press)
Lt. Gen. Ray Odierno, the No. 2 U.S. military official in Iraq, briefs reporters in Baghdad in this Feb. 27, 2007 file photo. Odierno said in an Associated Press interview Dec. 4 that he thinks 15-month...   (Associated Press)
U.S. Army Lt. Gen. Raymond Odierno speaks to reporters after a joint news conference with Lt. Gen. Abboud Qanbar, unseen, in the heavily-fortified Green Zone in Baghdad, Iraq Wednesday, Oct. 24, 2007....   (Associated Press)
U.S. Army Lt. Gen. Raymond Odierno speaks to reporters after a joint news conference with Iraq's Lt. Gen. Abboud Qanbar, not seen, in the heavily-fortified Green Zone in Baghdad, Iraq Wednesday, Oct....   (Associated Press)
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Iraq  • Iraq war  • US military  • David Petraeus  • Lt. Gen. Raymond T. Odierno  • counter insurgency


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