Petraeus' CIA sway at issue in new role
The retired general is known as a power player. Some worry about his influence in war policy.
WASHINGTON - David H. Petraeus, the newly retired general with the megawatt media profile, was sworn in Tuesday as CIA director, leaving behind a 37-year Army career that made him the best-known general of his generation.
Petraeus was sworn in by Vice President Biden as the 20th director of the so-called silent service in a ceremony at the White House.
"You led and trained the 9/11 generation to become the greatest group of warriors this country has ever seen," Biden said of Petraeus. "You've excelled in every single thing you've done."
Yet that's part of the reason some in the White House are so wary of the famous former four-star. Petraeus excelled even at persuading President Obama to choose his Afghan troop surge over Biden's preference for a much smaller force of trainers and special operations troops to hunt terrorists - which lent a touch of irony to Biden's conducting the event.
Admirers and detractors alike are watching to see whether Petraeus will use his influence with the media and Capitol Hill to push for a continued larger commitment of U.S. troops to Afghanistan, according to two current and one former U.S. officials, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive discussions at the National Security Council.
Petraeus already went on record at his Senate confirmation hearing that the drawdown of troops over the coming year that the president announced is faster than the military had recommended.
Inside the CIA, there's concern that analysts will be pressured to emulate their new boss' rosier view of war progress, after producing grim assessments of conditions in Afghanistan. Petraeus oversaw the Afghanistan war directly or indirectly for more than four years.
Petraeus has acknowledged differences with CIA analysts in the past, saying he thought the analysts were forced to rely on data at least six weeks old. He vowed to study their current system and find ways to get them more timely data.
The most recent CIA analysis of the Afghan war could even be interpreted as vindicating Petraeus' criticism of the speed of the drawdown.
The summer assessment predicted a stalemate in the war against a Taliban newly invigorated by the Obama drawdown announcement, according to one current and one former U.S. official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss classified matters. Intelligence intercepts between Taliban commanders show they plan to bide their time until more U.S. troops leave in the coming year, then step up attacks, the current official said.
White House officials fear Petraeus might use that analysis to back his old troop-intensive war strategy, according to U.S. officials both current and former. But Petraeus has insisted he will serve the president and the policymakers, providing information, but not shaping policy.
