The Tea Leaves

At first read these quotes from the CENTCOM change of command ceremony might seem unimportant. Perhaps they are. Or perhaps the things that people who are trying to keep it short say are worth close attention.

Gates:

It is hard to find much more to say about Gen David Petraeus. At the MNF-I change of command ceremony a few weeks ago I said that history will regard him as one of our nation’s great battle captains. He is the preeminent soldier, scholar, statesman of his generation and precisely the man we need at this command at this time.

Under his leadership our troops have dealt our enemies in Iraq a tremendous blow. Now he will take aim at our adversaries in Afghanistan and lead security capacity efforts throughout the Middle East, the Gulf and Central Asia, while working with our partners to counter a range of national and trans-national threats.

The progress of peace and the speed of that progress depends on the quality of trust Dave and this command will be able to achieve throughout the broader Middle East and how he will build upon the lessons Marty has brought forward to this very moment. While the challenges of this critical region may not require the same strategies, which forged a fragile peace in Iraq, they will demand the same patience, the same passion, the same dedication you inspired while you were there Dave. It’s now your turn with a new broader aperture and we have great expectations ahead.

CENTCOM is a command of men and women who understand that there are things in this world like freedom worth the sacrifice necessary to achieve and then preserve them. As Acting Commander of CENTCOM it’s been my privilege to visit the most austere and dangerous outposts on the frontiers of freedom.

Last December, in a visit to Afghanistan, I met Captain Rob McChrystal at combat outpost Melekshay on the Afghan-Pakistan border. He told me about his defense of this mountain pass that the Taliban use as an infiltration route from Pakistan and about the fight that his 20 paratroopers of his outpost had had the night before with 50 or so Taliban. There were several inches of snow on the ground. The troopers were living in sandbag metal containers at 8,000 feet and most of their supplies had to be brought in by helicopter because the road network to the camp had been mined by the Taliban, a tough and important mission being performed superbly by a tough group of soldiers.

Captain McChrystal reminded me that, because they’re a European based unit, their families were in Italy also far from home, a tough mission being supported superbly by a tough group of spouses and their children. These soldiers, their families and tens of thousands of their fellow soldiers, Sailors, airmen and Marines deployed in Iraq and Afghanistan are brave, they are proud, they accept the sacrifices we ask of them and I’ll tell you one other thing, nobody is getting through that mountain pass at combat post Melekshay or through any other outpost where young U.S. Americans stand watch for our freedom.

The Secretary the Chairman and General Dempsey have noted the accomplishments of this command in recent years and the challenges that lie ahead. Indeed from transnational extremist organizations and industrial strength insurgencies to weapons proliferation, a rise in piracy and persistent ethno-sectarian conflict, the CENTCOM area contains innumerable challenges.

As we have all seen in recent years, addressing these challenges requires comprehensive approaches that employ the whole of our government’s capabilities in close coordination of host country and coalition governments and security forces. This is necessary, not just to resolve pressing short term issues, but to address over time the underlying conditions that give rise to such serious security challenges. So the way ahead will be difficult. However, CENTCOM’s tasks are of enormous importance to our country, to the CENTCOM region and to the world. It’s clear that in the months and years ahead, a great deal of responsibility will continue to rest on the shoulders of the wonderful men and women of the coalition countries serving in harms way in the Central Command area of responsibility and it is an honor to serve with them again.