Petraeus Confirmed as CIA Director

WASHINGTON — The Sen­ate yes­ter­day con­firmed Army Gen. David H. Petraeus, cur­rent­ly the com­man­der of U.S. and NATO forces in Afghanistan, as the next direc­tor of the CIA.

Petraeus will replace Leon E. Panet­ta, for­mer CIA direc­tor, who took office today as sec­re­tary of defense. 

Dur­ing his con­fir­ma­tion hear­ing June 23, Petraeus said some observers have ques­tioned whether his pre­vi­ous involve­ment in Afghanistan and oth­er endeav­ors will col­or the agency’s analy­sis of those efforts. 

“Let me reas­sure you on this issue,” he said. “Clear­ly I have views on the efforts in which I’ve been engaged. I’ve shared them in the past with the agency’s ana­lysts, and I’ll do so in the future. How­ev­er, if con­firmed, when I am in the sit­u­a­tion room with the pres­i­dent, I will strive to present the agency posi­tion. I will also remain keen­ly aware that I am the leader of an intel­li­gence agency, not a policymaker.” 

Accord­ing to a spokesman for NATO’s Inter­na­tion­al Secu­ri­ty Assis­tance Force in Afghanistan, Petraeus will turn over com­mand July 18. Marine Corps Lt. Gen. John R. Allen has been nom­i­nat­ed for pro­mo­tion to gen­er­al and appoint­ment as Petraeus’ successor. 

Petraeus will retire from the Army on Aug. 31 and assume his new duties as cen­tral intel­li­gence direc­tor Sept. 6, the spokesman said. 

Source:
U.S. Depart­ment of Defense
Office of the Assis­tant Sec­re­tary of Defense (Pub­lic Affairs) 

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