Obama’s military reshuffle

President Obamna’s nomination of  General Petraeus to run the CIA will have a huge knock on effect on the US military. Petraeus will have to resign his commission to take on the post which means that his work trying to transform the US army into a force comfortable trying to deal with counter-insurgency will have to come to an end. One also can’t help but suspect that the Obama administration will be glad to avoid a public tussle with Petraeus over the schedule for withdrawal by moving him out of theatre.

Of the other moves in Obama’s shake up of his national security team, one worth paying particular attention to is Ryan Croker—the former ambassador to Iraq—moving to Kabul as US ambassador. In Iraq, Croker proved himself to be a formidable diplomatic fixer. If anyone can deal with the increasingly erratic Karzai, it is him.