'Petraeus Generation' Is Making Muslim Allies

In Afghanistan, meanwhile, Petraeus calls for unity

(NEWSER) - Joe Biden and his wife will be spending the Fourth of July weekend with the troops in Iraq. The vice president landed in Baghdad today for the surprise visit, where he will also meet with Iraqi leaders. It's likely an attempt to reassure Iraqis that the US is still engaged, despite the growing attention to the war in Afghanistan, reports the Washington Post . More»

Disaffected voters look to military for credibility, inspiration: Toby Harnden

(NEWSER) - The American political parties are in shambles, and in the credibility gap that plagues voters and candidates alike, a dark horse is emerging: David Petraeus. The head of Central Command evokes Dwight Eisenhower, because not since Ike's heyday "have the chances of a military man winning the White House been more propitious," writes Toby Harnden, a Brit who serves as the Telegraph 's US editor. More»

Face of Iraq surge disappears in Afghanistan debate

(NEWSER) - By the end of George W. Bush's second term David Petraeus was the country's most famous military man, carpeting the media with interviews and pressing the flesh on Capitol Hill. The general who personified the Iraq troop surge is still around, and spoke up in strategy sessions with Barack Obama this week, but Petraeus has taken a back seat to Stanley McChrystal and rarely makes public statements. Petraeus' advisers, speaking anonymously to the New York Times, are now calling him "Dave the Dull." More»

(NEWSER) - A new book on the surge in Iraq could offer lessons to the Obama administration about Afghanistan, Dexter Filkins writes in the New Republic. Thomas E. Ricks’ The Gamble details the success of a small band of contrarian US generals, led by David Petraeus, in turning around the war. But “what Petraeus and the other generals have ensured, by staving off defeat, is a longer war,” Filkins writes. Could that be the fate of Afghanistan? More»

Two-thirds of Americans support Afghanistan 'surge'

(NEWSER) - The 17,000 additional troops President Obama plans to send to Afghanistan will ship out with the support of two-thirds of Americans, a contrast to the public’s poor reception of George W. Bush’s Iraq surge, the Washington Post reports. Polls also show Obama’s troop increase has widespread backing: Four in 10 of those who say the war is not worth the cost nevertheless support the troop increase. More»