Petraeus to Bush: Hold Troop Levels Steady

According to AP sources

(NEWSER) - The big security shakeups are out, by way of unidentified AP sources, and as predicted , Leon Panetta is in as the new secretary of defense, succeeding Robert Gates. Gen. David Petraeus will be nominated to fill Panetta's shoes as CIA director. Five-time ambassador Ryan Crocker, who retired in 2009 and was reportedly resistant to the administration's advances, is expected to become the new ambassador to Afghanistan. The Washington Post notes that this will reunite him briefly with Petraeus, who led the US charge in Iraq while Crocker served as ambassador to that country. More»

Pundits underwhelmed by 'grim' war-end speech

(NEWSER) - The verdicts are in on President Obama's Oval Office address to mark the end of major US combat operations in Iraq, and he apparently didn't please many people.

• The president just wasn't entertaining enough for Bill O'Reilly. The president seemed like a "boring professor," the O'Reilly Factor host complained, criticizing even the way Obama held his hands. "You can’t get him on substance, so you go over his style," guest Alan Colmes retorted.

(NEWSER) - It wasn't exactly back in the Crusades that opposing the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan was the left’s most passionate cause, uniting activists and voters alike. Then George W. Bush left office. Now, even though there are still around 130,000 troops in Iraq and 68,000 and counting in Afghanistan, those anti-war voices are silent, writes Byron York in the Washington Examiner. More»

Will meet leaders, thank troops in mission's 'endgame'

(NEWSER) - President Bush has arrived in Baghdad on a surprise farewell trip, the BBC reports. A day after Defense Secretary Robert Gates said the US mission in Iraq is in its “endgame,” Bush met with President Jalal Talabani; he’ll meet with other "leaders, thank the troops, and celebrate the new security agreement” that calls for withdrawal by 2011, a White House rep said. More»

'Financial 9/11' calls for nation-building—at home, says Friedman

(NEWSER) - As America faces "a financial 9/11," what does the $1 trillion bailout mean for the country's other huge expense—the war in Iraq? Thomas L. Friedman plays ventriloquist in the New York Times, imagining President Bush telling Iraqi leaders that "you are now going to have to step up and finish this job" as the US will "turn inward to get our house back in order." More»