The Senate Armed Services Committee voted Tuesday to confirm Gen. David H. Petraeus as the next commander of U.S. and foreign forces in Afghanistan after the general told senators he would insist on “an unshakeable commitment to teamwork among all elements of the U.S. government.”
The Obama administration is seeking Petraeus’s quick confirmation to replace Gen. Stanley A. McChrystal, who resigned last week after he and his senior aides made comments to Rolling Stone magazine criticizing Vice President Biden and other senior officials.
The committee vote clears the way for a vote by the full Senate.
In his opening statement to the committee, Petraeus praised McChrystal for his strategic accomplishments in Afghanistan over the past year. He did not directly address McChrystal’s comments in the magazine article.
Senators from both parties praised Petraeus in their opening statements and indicated that he would be easily confirmed. Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), the ranking Republican on the committee, called Petraeus an “American hero” for his role in stabilizing the war in Iraq. Formerly the top U.S. commander in Iraq, Petraeus now serves as commander of the U.S. Central Command
But senators also made clear they would use the confirmation hearing to debate the Obama administration’s Afghan war policy, including the president’s stated commitment to begin withdrawing at least some U.S. troops by July 2011.
Petraeus emphasized the need to work more closely with high-ranking civilian members of the Obama administration in Afghanistan, with NATO and other allied leaders and with top Afghan officials. “We are all firmly united in seeking to forge unity of effort,” the general said.
His remarks contrasted with McChrystal’s comments to Rolling Stone, in which he complained about having to attend a meeting at the French Ministry of Defense, disparaged his civilian counterpart in Kabul — U.S. Ambassador Karl Eikenberry — and moaned about receiving e-mails from Richard Holbrooke, Obama’s special envoy to Afghanistan and Pakistan.
Petraeus said he would continue McChrystal’s strategy of trying to avoid civilian deaths in Afghanistan, a keystone of the U.S. military’s counterinsurgency strategy. But in a nod to U.S. troops who have complained that McChrystal had tied their hands in the war by making it more difficult to engage Taliban fighters, Petraeus said troops under his command would not shrink from a fight.
“Focusing on securing the people does not, however, mean that we don’t go after the enemy,” he said. “In fact, protecting the population inevitably requires killing, capturing, or turning the insurgents. Our forces have been doing that, and we will continue to do that.
“I am keenly aware of concerns by some of our troopers on the ground about the application of our rules of engagement and the tactical directive,” he added. “They should know that I will look very hard at this issue.”
Petraeus has long been a familiar face to members of the Senate. In fact, he testified before the Senate Armed Services Committee just two weeks ago to answer questions about the Afghan war effort. He made headlines at that hearing when he briefly fainted at the witness table, prompting senators to suspend his testimony until the next day.
Aides said the general was dehydrated and jet-lagged. Petraeus was treated for early-stage prostate cancer last year but has since said the treatments were successful.
Senators pushed Petraeus to declare whether he backed Obama’s policy to begin withdrawing U.S. troops in July 2011. Obama has said that the pace and degree of the withdrawal will depend on conditions in Afghanistan at that time.
“Not only did I say I supported it, I said I agreed with it,” Petraeus replied. His answers, however, illustrated the balancing act that he and the administration face in trying to reassure Americans that their troops will start to come home soon, while also reassuring Afghan leaders that the United States will not abandon their country.
Referring to the July 2011 deadline, Petraeus said, “It was not just for domestic political purposes. It was also meant for audiences in Kabul, that we will not be there forever.” He quickly added, “But we will be there, presumably for quite some time.”
Republicans criticized Obama for setting the deadline, saying that it gave the Taliban reason to believe that the U.S. commitment to the war was limited. Some senators said the White House has sent mixed signals over whether the withdrawal would consist of a token number of forces, subject to a fungible timeline, or a fixed date involving large numbers of troops.
“It depends on who you seem to be talking to,” said Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.). “Somebody needs to get it straight, without a doubt, what the hell we’re going to do in July.”
