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Gates says Petraeus staying put in Iraq

Despite rumors to the contrary, the top U.S. commander in Iraq is staying put. And no decision will be made about shortening Army deployments to the Middle East wars until after Army Gen. David Petraeus delivers a new assessment on the Iraq war in March.

Defense Secretary Robert Gates opened a Thursday news conference at the Pentagon by seeking to counter a Jan. 21 New York Times report that officials are considering Petraeus for the top NATO command before the end of September.

Gates said President Bush, a strong Petraeus supporter, has no plans to move the architect of his 2007 troop surge. Petraeus has commanded Multi-National Force-Iraq since Feb. 10, 2007.

“With respect to General Petraeus’ next assignment, the president is pretty clear that he wants General Petraeus to stay right where he is at least through late fall and maybe the end of the year,” Gates said.

Discuss: Stalemate or checkmate?

One could quibble over whether there is really much difference between September and “late fall.” But the news conference was dominated by questions on whether the U.S. will provide military assistance to beleaguered Pakistan, and the Petraeus situation wasn’t raised again.

Gates also addressed what he called “some discussion” about the possibility of trimming Army combat deployments from 15 months back to 12. A report in the Jan. 28 Army Times said the Army is on the verge of implementing a plan that would bring home early 10 maneuver brigades now in Iraq and Afghanistan and cut tours back to 12 months by Aug. 1.

Nothing has been decided, Gates said.

There has been some discussion, he said, but he “will make no decision changing the duration of these assignments, or of the tours” until Petraeus, U.S. Central Command chief Adm. William Fallon and the Joint Chiefs of Staff have made their recommendations to Bush.

Petraeus is due to reprise his September assessment of the war in Iraq for Bush, Gates and Congress in March. At that point, the ongoing drawdown of the equivalent of five brigade combat teams will be about half complete; his recommendations on the size of the force he wants in place for the rest of the year is expected to carry heavy weight with Bush and Gates as far as whether the drawdown should continue, as Gates has said he hopes could be done.