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He has a reputation for rigorous discipline. He keeps a punishing pace
-- spending more than 300 days on the road last year. He briefly collapsed during Senate testimony last week, apparently from dehydration. It was a rare glimpse of weakness for a man known as among the military's most driven. In the hearing last week, Petraeus told Congress he would recommend delaying Obama's prescribed pullout of U.S. forces from Afghanistan beginning in July 2011. He said security and political conditions in Afghanistan must be ready to handle a U.S. drawdown. Waheed Omar, spokesman for Karzai, said Petraeus "will also be a trusted partner." Karzai had been a lonely voice in speaking out in support of McChrystal. But Omar said of Petraeus: "He is the most informed person and the most obvious choice for this job" now that McChrystal is out. The day unfolded with a secretive series of meetings. McChrystal arrived in Washington off the long flight from Kabul in the early morning and went first to the Pentagon to see top brass. Then came his half-hour alone with the president. Obama huddled afterward with Biden, Gates, Mullen and just a few others to plot the next step, and the group settled on Petraeus because he represents the "greatest continuity in operational understanding" and knows Afghanistan, said the senior administration official.
Obama then sat down with Petraeus to offer him the job. Gates' advice on the matter wasn't disclosed. Pentagon press secretary Geoff Morrell said that Gates had talked extensively with Obama, including a 30-minute one-on-one meeting late Tuesday. But Morrell declined to say whether Gates suggested McChrystal should be fired. In the magazine article, McChrystal called the period last fall when the president was deciding whether to approve more troops "painful" and said the president appeared ready to hand him an "unsellable" position. McChrystal also said he was "betrayed" by Ambassador Karl Eikenberry, the man the White House chose to be his diplomatic partner in Afghanistan. He accused Eikenberry of raising doubts about Karzai only to give himself cover in case the U.S. effort failed. And he was quoted mocking Biden. If not insubordination, the remarks -- as well as even sharper commentary about Obama and his White House from several in McChrystal's inner circle
-- were at the least an extraordinary challenge from a military leader. Sen. Carl Levin, chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, said he expected to hold a hearing by Tuesday on Petraeus' confirmation.
[Associated
Press;
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