Petraeus Hands Off Iraq Reins Next Week

Lt. Gen. Raymond Odierno to take commander's place
By Matt Cantor,  Newser Staff
Posted Sep 8, 2008 7:03 AM CDT
Petraeus Hands Off Iraq Reins Next Week
US Army Gen. David Petraeus, the top commander in Iraq, speaks to local leaders as he visits a marketplace in Muqdadiyah in Iraq's volatile Diyala province earlier this summer.   (AP Photo/Maya Alleruzzo)

Gen. David Petraeus will step down as the top US commander in Iraq on Sept. 16, handing the reins to Lt. Gen. Raymond Odierno, the No. 2 commander there until recently, Reuters reports. Petraeus, who led the troop surge that ushered in a major decline in Iraq violence, will become head of Central Command, which oversees a region from Kenya to Kazakhstan. (More David Petraeus stories.)

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