Translated material
David Petreus will take office
The Central Intelligence Directorate of the United States (CIA) will gain a new leader today. The retired general David Petreus, who until then commanded the troops of the United States and NATO in Afghanistan, will enter the post of director of the intelligence agency.
On the last day of August, 58-year-old Petreus officially left his previous post and resigned. Thus, his military career, which lasted a little less than 40 years, ended, ITAR-TASS reports.
At the Pentagon ceremony, Deputy Minister of Defense of the United States, William Lynn, called Petreus “one of the leading military strategists” in the country over the past decade. According to him, during this time "no one played a big role in the leadership of the troops than General Petreus."
In all likelihood, US President Barack Obama was also guided by the same considerations, who, announcing his intention to appoint Petreus by the new head of the CIA, noted that he "had a business with intelligence information for almost 40 years and knows well that it should be timely and accurate."
At the same time, as experts note, the new CIA leader will have to face certain difficulties.
In particular, as the observer of The Washington Post, David Ignatius, notes, we are talking about the work of CIA analysts, who recently gave very unflattering assessments of the military operation in Afghanistan. In particular, they expressed the opinion that the war in this country is “moving to a dead end”, which Petreus categorically disagree with.
"The test for Petreus is whether he can provide his analysts with the independence necessary for a real assessment of the strategy in Afghanistan, which he himself has developed. He has his own stable views about this war, but if the position of experts diverge with them, this becomes a reason for tension," the journalist notes.
One way or another, but the main intelligence service of the United States receives a new boss after a long break. Its former leader Leon Panetta has been headed by the US Department of Defense from July 1.