title: Gacha game

text: It has been debated what makes so addictive to so many players. Proposed mechanisms include playing on the hunter-gatherer instinct to collect items, as well as the desire to complete a set, effective use of the "fear of missing out", or, simply the same mechanisms that drive gambling.


title: Gacha game

text: An aspect of monetisation commonly found in the financing of games involves a model where a large part of the game's revenue comes from a very small proportion of players who spend an unusually large amount of money on rolls, essentially subsidising the game for other players who may spend smaller amounts of money, or even free-to-play players that spend no money at all. The high-spending players are often colloquially referred to as "whales".


title: Gacha game

text: In May 2012, an article was published in a conservative Japanese newspaper, the "Yomiuri Shimbun", that criticized social networking games and specifically for exploiting the naivety of children to make a profit. The main complaint of the article was that the model too closely resembled gambling. The paper called for an investigation by Japan's Consumer Affairs Agency to prevent abuse of the system. Several cases of teenagers and even younger kids spending equivalents of over US$1000 have been reported in the media. Shortly after, the suggested investigation was performed and the model of complete was declared illegal by the Consumer Affairs Agency, citing the , The Consumer Affairs Agency stated that virtual items could be considered "prizes" under existing legislation written in 1977 to prevent the complete practice in the context of baseball trading cards. Within a month of the statement being issued, all major Japanese game publishers had removed complete rules from their games, though many developers found ways around this. In addition, several lawsuits were launched in Japan against companies selling gacha products, leading to temporary decrease in their stock market value by almost a quarter. Japanese mobile game developers, including GREE and DeNA, worked to establish a self-regulating industry group, the Japan Social Game Association, which was an attempt to push developers from these models, but it did not prove successful, and the Association was disbanded by 2015.


title: Gacha game

text: The mechanism has come under scrutiny for its similarity to gambling, and some countries require drop rates to be made public, or have banned certain practices (e.g., complete ). Many players also feel regret after making purchases in these games according to a survey. This type of game has also come under criticism for luring players into spending thousands of dollars at a time to get what they want, and the way outcomes are presented within the game have also been criticized. Children are likely to be affected by the gambling-like mechanism since mobile devices provides easy access to payment; some game developers also intentionally introduce emotional manipulations and exploitive practices. A 2019 research paper has noted that "the gacha system has proven to be addictive and problematic" and speculated that the loopholes in the gacha system could be exploited for international money laundering.


title: Egypt national football team

text: The Egypt national football team (), known colloquially as "the Pharaohs", represents Egypt in men's international football, and is governed by the Egyptian Football Association (EFA), the governing body of football in Egypt. The team's historical stadium is Cairo International Stadium, although matches are sometimes played at Borg El Arab Stadium in Alexandria.


title: Egypt national football team

text: Egypt has won the African Cup a record seven times. In the international stage, Egypt has made three appearances in the World Cup and was the first Arab and African team to make an appearance. They also hold the record for the oldest player to have played at the World Cup and being the only national team with a perfect winning record against Germany.


title: Egypt national football team

text: The first Egyptian national football team was constituted in 1920, the first African football team created to compete in the Summer Olympics in Belgium. The opening match of their campaign was a loss against the Italians. Between 1958 and 1961, the country had a political unity with Syria and went under the name of United Arab Republic, though the Egyptian team's records are attributed to Egypt only by FIFA as it was represented by Egyptian footballers and the team played in the Africa Cup of Nations. The Pharaohs had appeared in three FIFA World Cups and they are the most successful team in the Africa Cup of Nations, winning the competition seven times, with the 2010 Africa Cup of Nations being the most recent one.


title: Egypt national football team

text: Egypt first participated in the first Africa Cup of Nations tournament in 1957. In their first game, a semi-final, they faced Sudan, winning 2–1; Egypt won 4–0 in the final.


title: Egypt national football team

text: In their second participation in the Africa Cup of Nations in 1959, Egypt became champions again. There were only three teams in that tournament, Ethiopia, Sudan, and Egypt, who were undefeated. They lost their first final in the Africa Cup of Nations in 1962.


title: Egypt national football team

text: Their fourth appearance came in 1963 in Ghana. Egypt was placed in Group B with Sudan and Nigeria, defeating Nigeria 6–3, but drawing 2–2 against Sudan. Despite being undefeated in the group stage, they were ranked second, behind Sudan by goal difference. Egypt, as runners-up in Group B, participated in the 3rd place match, playing against Ethiopia, winning 3–0.


title: Egypt national football team

text: For the 1965 Africa Cup of Nations, Egypt qualified for the tournament, but withdrew because of their diplomatic relationship with hosts Tunisia. They also withdrew in 1968.


title: Egypt national football team

text: In the 1970 Africa Cup of Nations, hosted again in Sudan, Egypt were in Group B along with Ghana, Guinea, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo, known as Congo-Kinshasa back then. In their opening match, Egypt defeated Guinea by a score of 4–1 and drew Ghana 1–1, defeating Congo-Kinshasa 1–0. Egypt ended being in first place, thus advancing to the next round, where they faced Sudan. Egypt eventually lost their first game in the Africa Cup of Nations by a scored of 2–1, then in the third place match, won Ivory Coast 3–1.


title: Egypt national football team

text: Egypt failed to qualify for the first time in 1972 after being eliminated by Morocco by an aggregate score of 5–3. However, Egypt returned for 1974, hosting the event. They finished third place. Two years later, in Ethiopia, they were in Group A with the hosts, Guinea, and Uganda. Egypt defeated Uganda 2–1, but drew against Uganda and Ethiopia. Egypt advanced to the final round, and lost all matches. This is the first Africa Cup of Nations tournament that Egypt lost 3 consecutive games. Egypt then failed to qualify for 1978.


title: Egypt national football team

text: Egypt reappeared for the 1980 African Cup of Nations, defeating Ivory Coast and defeated Tanzania, but lost to hosts Nigeria 1–0. Egypt progressed to the semi-finals to face Algeria, who defeated the Egyptians on penalties. For the Four years later, Egypt defeated Cameroon and Ivory Coast, and drew Togo, eventually finishing fourth behind Algeria.


title: Egypt national football team

text: For 1986, Egypt hosted; they lost to Senegal 1–0. However, Egypt went on to win their two remaining games in the group stage, 2–0 against the Ivory Coast and Mozambique. Egypt advanced to the final for the first time since 1962, eventually winning. Egypt qualified for 1990, losing all group stage matches, thus making Egypt fail to obtain at least one point for the first time in the Africa Cup of Nations. They repeated this in 1992.


title: Egypt national football team

text: In the 1994 Africa Cup of Nations in Tunisia, Egypt defeated Gabon 4–0 and tied Nigeria 0–0. They lost to Mali 1–0 in the quarterfinals. Egypt won their fourth title in 1998, defeating South Africa in the final.


title: Egypt national football team

text: Egypt qualified for the 2004 Africa Cup of Nations, in Tunisia. Egypt were placed in Group C with Algeria, Zimbabwe, and Cameroon. Egypt won 2–1 against Zimbabwe, lost 2–1 to Algeria, and drew 0–0 against Cameroon, failing to qualify for the quarter-finals due to Algeria scoring more goals than Egypt in the group stage, after being equal on points and goal difference.


title: Egypt national football team

text: The 2006 Africa Cup of Nations was hosted in Egypt; the hosts were in Group A with Libya, Morocco, and the Ivory Coast. Egypt defeated Libya 3–0, tied 0–0 against Morocco, and won 3–1 against the Ivory Coast. Egypt would eventually win the tournament on penalties, and would also win the 2008 and 2010 tournaments.


title: Egypt national football team

text: Egypt qualified for the 2017 tournament, drawing against Mali in their first match in Group D. Successive 1–0 wins against Uganda and Ghana saw the Pharaohs qualify to the quarter-finals as group winners. Egypt faced Morocco at the quarter-final stage, and defeated them for the first time in 31 years to set up a semi-final clash with Burkina Faso. Mohamed Salah's goal against the Stallions was canceled out by an Aristide Bancé strike; however, veteran goalkeeper Essam El Hadary saved two spot-kicks in the penalty shootout to earn a spot in the final for Egypt. Egypt then faced Cameroon, and lost the final for the second time.


title: Egypt national football team

text: In the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations, hosts Egypt were knocked out by South Africa in the round of 16, despite three wins in the group stage. In the 2021 Africa Cup, Egypt went to the final despite dire performances in the group stage and beating Ivory Coast on penalties after a 0–0 draw. Egypt then beat Cameroon 3–1 in penalties after a 0–0 draw, to reach their 10th final, beating Ghana's record of final appearances. Egypt suffered their first of two losses to Senegal in 2022, both on penalties (in the AFCON final and in World Cup qualifying), both winning penalties scored by Sadio Mané.


title: Egypt national football team

text: Egypt has qualified for the FIFA World Cup three times: in 1934, in 1990 and for the 2018 editions. Egypt was the first African country to qualify for the World Cup, beating Mandatory Palestine. It lost to Hungary 4–2 in their first and only match in 1934.


title: Egypt national football team

text: In 1990, Egypt qualified after beating Algeria 1–0 in the playoffs. They were drawn in Group F, with Ireland, England and the Netherlands. Since the Egyptians favored defensive tactics, they scored only one goal in the 1990 World Cup. A 1–1 draw with UEFA Euro 1988 champions Netherlands gave the Egyptians their first point in the World Cup. This was followed by a draw against Ireland and a 1–0 loss to England.


title: Egypt national football team

text: In the 2018 World Cup, Egypt was drawn with Saudi Arabia, Uruguay and the hosts, Russia. They started their first game against Uruguay, without Salah, who was injured in the UEFA Champions League final. Despite this, they lost 1–0, and goalkeeper Mohamed El Shenawy was voted man of the match. He refused the reward due to sponsorship by Budweiser.


title: Egypt national football team

text: Salah returned to the starting lineup when Egypt faced Russia. Russia led 3–0, and then Salah scored Egypt's first World Cup goal in 28 years.


title: Egypt national football team

text: Egypt's third and final match was a Red Sea Derby against Saudi Arabia, also out of contention after two losses. Essam El Hadary became the oldest player in the World Cup at 45 years and 161 days.


title: Egypt national football team

text: Héctor Cúper, who was criticised due to his defensive strategies against Saudi Arabia, was sacked. The Egyptian Football Association was also criticised due to having its base in Chechnya, far from where Egypt's matches were played. The Egyptian media and the public heavily criticized EFA's management of the team.


title: Egypt national football team

text: Egypt's home games are early years were played at Cairo International Stadium since 1960, during renovations they play at Borg El Arab Stadium


title: Egypt national football team

text: In 2017, Egypt set a new record of 24 consecutive Africa Cup of Nations matches played without defeat, dating back to their last tournament appearance in 2010. During this run, Egypt also reached a record nine consecutive wins in AFCON matches after beating Ghana in the 2010 final, while becoming the first team to win three consecutive AFCON titles. The unbeaten run came to an end on 5 February 2017, after Egypt lost 1–2 to Cameroon in the 2017 final.


title: Egypt national football team

text: Egypt appeared in two of the ten FIFA Confederations Cups contested, being eliminated in the group stage on both occasions. Egypt's first Confederations Cup appearance was in 1999 as a result of winning the Africa Cup of Nations in 1998. The second appearance was in 2009 as the Africa Cup of Nations winners in 2008, where they won against Italy 1–0.


title: Rainey Qualley

text: Rainey Qualley (born March 11, 1989) is an American actress and singer. She made her acting debut in the 2012 film "Mighty Fine". She is best known for her music, which she releases under the name Rainsford.


title: Rainey Qualley

text: Rainey Qualley was born March 11, 1989 (or 1990) in New York City but was raised in North Carolina. She is the daughter of actress and model Andie MacDowell, and model, musician, contractor, and rancher Paul Qualley. She has two siblings: an older brother, Justin and a younger sister, actress and model Margaret Qualley.


title: Rainey Qualley

text: Qualley made her debut as Miss Golden Globe in 2012. That same year, she starred in "Mighty Fine", opposite her mother Andie MacDowell, directed by Debbie Goodstein. In 2014, Qualley starred in "Falcon Song" directed by Jason Corgan Brown. In 2015, Qualley guest starred in an episode of "Mad Men". In 2018, Qualley starred in "Perfect" directed by Eddie Alcazar. She made a cameo appearance as herself in "Ocean's 8". Qualley will next star in "The Shuroo Process" directed by Emrhys Cooper.


title: Rainey Qualley

text: In 2016, she released the song "Too Close". In 2017, she released the song "Rendezvous". In 2018, Rainsford released her debut extended play "Emotional Support Animal". In 2019, Rainsford released two songs, "Passionate" and "Open Open". In 2020, Rainsford released two songs, "2 Cents" and "Crying in the Mirror". Rainsford collaborated with Twin Shadow on two songs on his fourth studio album.


title: Female

text: Female (symbol: ♀) is the sex of an organism that produces the large non-motile ova (egg cells), the type of gamete (sex cell) that fuses with the male gamete during sexual reproduction.


title: Female

text: A female has larger gametes than a male. Females and males are results of the anisogamous reproduction system, wherein gametes are of different sizes, unlike isogamy where they are the same size. The exact mechanism of female gamete evolution remains unknown.


title: Female

text: In species that have males and females, sex-determination may be based on either sex chromosomes, or environmental conditions. Most female mammals, including female humans, have two X chromosomes. Female characteristics vary between different species with some species having pronounced secondary female sex characteristics, such as the presence of pronounced mammary glands in mammals.


title: Female

text: In humans, the word "female" can also be used to refer to gender in the social sense of gender role or gender identity.


title: Female

text: The word "female" comes from the Latin "femella", the diminutive form of "femina", meaning "woman". It is not etymologically related to the word "male", but in the late 14th century the English spelling was altered to parallel that of "male". "Female" is also used as a noun meaning "a female organism", though describing women as "females" is often considered disparaging, as it makes no distinction between other animals and humans.


title: Female

text: Biological sex is conceptually distinct from gender, although they are often treated interchangeably. The adjective "female" can describe a person's sex or gender identity.


title: Female

text: The word can also refer to the shape of connectors and fasteners, such as screws, electrical pins, and technical equipment. Under this convention, sockets and receptacles are called "female," and the corresponding plugs "male".


title: Female

text: Females produce ova, the larger gametes in a heterogamous reproduction system, while the smaller and usually motile gametes, the spermatozoa, are produced by males. Generally, a female cannot reproduce sexually without access to the gametes of a male, and vice versa, but in some species females can reproduce by themselves asexually, for example via parthenogenesis.


title: Female

text: Other than the defining difference in the type of gamete produced, differences between males and females in one lineage cannot always be predicted by differences in another. The concept is not limited to animals; egg cells are produced by chytrids, diatoms, water moulds and land plants, among others. In land plants, "female" and "male" designate not only the egg- and sperm-producing organisms and structures, but also the structures of the sporophytes that give rise to male and female plants.


title: Female

text: Species that are divided into females and males are classified as gonochoric in animals, as dioecious in seed plants and as dioicous in cryptogams.


title: Female

text: In some species, female and hermaphrodite individuals may coexist, a sexual system termed gynodioecy. In a few species, female individuals coexist with males and simultaneous hermaphrodites; this sexual system is called trioecy. In "Thor manningi", primary females coexist with primary males and protandrous hermaphrodites.


title: Female

text: A distinguishing characteristic of the class "Mammalia" is the presence of mammary glands. Mammary glands are modified sweat glands that produce milk, which is used to feed the young for some time after birth. Only mammals produce milk. Mammary glands are obvious in humans, because the female human body stores large amounts of fatty tissue near the nipples, resulting in prominent breasts. Mammary glands are present in all mammals, although they are normally redundant in males of the species.


title: Female

text: Most mammalian females have two copies of the X chromosome, while males have only one X and one smaller Y chromosome; some mammals, such as the platypus, have different combinations. One of the female's X chromosomes is randomly inactivated in each cell of placental mammals while the paternally derived X is inactivated in marsupials. In birds and some reptiles, by contrast, it is the female which is heterozygous and carries a Z and a W chromosome while the male carries two Z chromosomes. In mammals, females can have XXX or X.


title: Female

text: Mammalian females bear live young, with the exception of monotreme females, which lay eggs. Some non-mammalian species, such as guppies, have analogous reproductive structures; and some other non-mammals, such as some sharks, also bear live young.


title: Female

text: In sex determination for mammals, female is the default sex, while in the poplar genus "Populus" the default is male.


title: Female

text: The sex of a particular organism may be determined by genetic or environmental factors, or may naturally change during the course of an organism's life.


title: Female

text: The sex of most mammals, including humans, is genetically determined by the XY sex-determination system where males have X and Y (as opposed to X and X) sex chromosomes. During reproduction, the male contributes either an X sperm or a Y sperm, while the female always contributes an X egg. A Y sperm and an X egg produce a male, while an X sperm and an X egg produce a female. The ZW sex-determination system, where males have ZZ (as opposed to ZW) sex chromosomes, is found in birds, reptiles and some insects and other organisms.


title: Female

text: The young of some species develop into one sex or the other depending on local environmental conditions, e.g. the sex of crocodilians is influenced by the temperature of their eggs. Other species (such as the goby) can transform, as adults, from one sex to the other in response to local reproductive conditions (such as a brief shortage of males).


title: Female

text: The question of how females evolved is mainly a question of why males evolved. The first organisms reproduced asexually, usually via binary fission, wherein a cell splits itself in half. From a strict numbers perspective, a species that is half males/half females can produce half the offspring an asexual population can, because only the females are having offspring. Being male can also carry significant costs, such as in flashy sexual displays in animals (such as big antlers or colorful feathers), or needing to produce an outsized amount of pollen as a plant in order to get a chance to fertilize a female. Yet despites the costs of being male, there must be some advantage to the process.


title: Female

text: The advantages are explained by the evolution of anisogamy, which led to the evolution of male and female function. Before the evolution of anisogamy, mating types in a species were isogamous: the same size and both could move, catalogued only as "+" or "-" types. In anisogamy, the mating cells are called gametes. The female gamete is larger than the male gamete, and usually immotile. Anisogamy remains poorly understood, as there is no fossil record of its emergence. Numerous theories exist as to why anisogamy emerged. Many share a common thread, in that larger female gametes are more likely to survive, and that smaller male gametes are more likely to find other gametes because they can travel faster. Current models often fail to account for why isogamy remains in a few species. Anisogamy appears to have evolved multiple times from isogamy; for example female Volvocales (a type of green algae) evolved from the plus mating type. Although sexual evolution emerged at least 1.2 billion years ago, the lack of anisogamous fossil records make it hard to pinpoint when females evolved.


title: Female

text: Female sex organs (genitalia, in animals) have an extreme range of variation among species and even within species. The evolution of female genitalia remains poorly understood compared to male genitalia, reflecting a now-outdated belief that female genitalia are less varied than male genitalia, and thus less useful to study. The difficulty of reaching female genitalia has also complicated their study. New 3D technology has made female genital study simpler. Genitalia evolve very quickly. There are three main hypotheses as to what impacts female genital evolution: lock-and-key (genitals must fit together), cryptic female choice (females affect whether males can fertilize them), and sexual conflict (a sort of sexual arms race). There is also a hypothesis that female genital evolution is the result of pleiotropy, i.e. unrelated genes that are affected by environmental conditions like low food also affect genitals. This hypothesis is unlikely to apply to a significant number of species, but natural selection in general has some role in female genital evolution.


title: Female

text: The symbol ♀ (Unicode: U+2640 Alt codes: Alt+12), a circle with a small cross underneath, is commonly used to represent females. Joseph Justus Scaliger once speculated that the symbol was associated with Venus, goddess of beauty because it resembles a bronze mirror with a handle, but modern scholars consider that fanciful, and the most established view is that the female and male symbols derive from contractions in Greek script of the Greek names of the planets Thouros (Mars) and Phosphoros (Venus).


title: David Petraeus

text: David Howell Petraeus (; born November 7, 1952) is a retired United States Army general and public official. He served as Director of the Central Intelligence Agency from September 6, 2011, until his resignation on November 9, 2012. Prior to his assuming the directorship of the CIA, Petraeus served 37 years in the United States Army. His last assignments in the Army were as commander of the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) and commander, U.S. Forces – Afghanistan (USFOR-A) from July 4, 2010, to July 18, 2011. His other four-star assignments include serving as the 10th commander, U.S. Central Command (USCENTCOM) from October 13, 2008, to June 30, 2010, and as commanding general, Multi-National Force – Iraq (MNF-I) from February 10, 2007, to September 16, 2008. As commander of MNF-I, Petraeus oversaw all coalition forces in Iraq.


title: David Petraeus

text: Petraeus has a B.S. degree from the United States Military Academy, from which he graduated in 1974 as a distinguished cadet (top 5% of his class). In his class were three other future four-star generals, Martin Dempsey, Walter L. Sharp and Keith B. Alexander. He was the General George C. Marshall Award winner as the top graduate of the U.S. Army Command and General Staff College class of 1983. He subsequently earned an M.P.A. in 1985 and a Ph.D. degree in international relations in 1987 from the Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs at Princeton University. He later served as assistant professor of international relations at the United States Military Academy and also completed a fellowship at Georgetown University.


title: David Petraeus

text: Petraeus has repeatedly stated that he has no plans to run for elected political office. On June 23, 2010, President Barack Obama nominated Petraeus to succeed General Stanley McChrystal as commanding general of the International Security Assistance Force in Afghanistan, technically a step down from his position as Commander of United States Central Command, which oversees the military efforts in Afghanistan, Pakistan, Central Asia, the Arabian Peninsula, and Egypt.


title: David Petraeus

text: On June 30, 2011, Petraeus was unanimously confirmed as the Director of the CIA by the U.S. Senate 94–0. Petraeus relinquished command of U.S. and NATO forces in Afghanistan on July 18, 2011, and retired from the U.S. Army on August 31, 2011. On November 9, 2012, he resigned from his position as director of the CIA, citing his extramarital affair with his biographer Paula Broadwell, which was reportedly discovered in the course of an FBI investigation. In January 2015, officials reported the FBI and Justice Department prosecutors had recommended bringing felony charges against Petraeus for allegedly providing classified information to Broadwell while serving as director of the CIA. Eventually, Petraeus pleaded guilty to one misdemeanor charge of mishandling classified information. He was later sentenced to two years of probation and fined $100,000 for the unauthorized removal and retention of classified material he gave to Broadwell.


title: David Petraeus

text: Petraeus was born in Cornwall-on-Hudson, New York, the son of Miriam Sweet (née Howell; 1912–1991), a librarian, and Sixtus Petraeus (1915–2008), a sea captain. His father was a Dutch merchant mariner who emigrated to the United States at the start of World War II, from Franeker, the Netherlands, and his mother was American, a resident of Brooklyn, New York. They met at the Seamen's Church Institute of New York and New Jersey and married. Sixtus Petraeus commanded a Liberty ship for the U.S. for the duration of World War II. The family moved after the war, settling in Cornwall-on-Hudson, where David Petraeus grew up and graduated from Cornwall Central High School in 1970.


title: David Petraeus

text: Petraeus went on to the United States Military Academy at West Point. Petraeus was on the intercollegiate soccer and ski teams, was a cadet captain on the brigade staff, and was a "distinguished cadet" academically, graduating in the top 5% of the Class of 1974 (ranked 40th overall). In the class yearbook, Petraeus was remembered as "always going for it in sports, academics, leadership, and even his social life."


title: David Petraeus

text: While a cadet, Petraeus started dating the daughter of Army General William A. Knowlton (the West Point superintendent at the time), Holly. Two months after Petraeus graduated, they married. Holly, who is multi-lingual, was a National Merit Scholar in high school, and graduated "summa cum laude" from Dickinson College. They have a daughter and son, Anne and Stephen. Petraeus administered the oath of office at his son's 2009 commissioning into the Army after his son's graduation from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. His son went on to serve as an officer in Afghanistan as a member of 3rd Platoon, Alpha Company, 1st Battalion, 503rd Infantry Regiment, 173rd Airborne Brigade Combat Team.


title: David Petraeus

text: Petraeus's official residence in the United States is a small property in the small town of Springfield, New Hampshire, which his wife inherited from her family. Petraeus once told a friend that he was a Rockefeller Republican.


title: David Petraeus

text: Petraeus graduated from West Point in 1974, receiving a Bachelor of Science degree in Military Science. He earned the General George C. Marshall Award as the top graduate of the U.S. Army Command and General Staff College Class of 1983 at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas. He subsequently earned an M.P.A. in 1985 and a Ph.D. in international relations in 1987 from Princeton University's Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs, where he was mentored by Richard H. Ullman.


title: David Petraeus

text: At that time, he also served as an assistant professor of international relations at the U.S. Military Academy from 1985 to 1987. His doctoral dissertation was titled "The American Military and the Lessons of Vietnam: A Study of Military Influence and the Use of Force in the Post-Vietnam Era". He completed a military fellowship at Georgetown University's Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service in 1994–1995, although he was called away early to serve in Haiti as the Chief of Operations for NATO there in early 1995.


title: David Petraeus

text: From late 2005 through February 2007, Petraeus served as commanding general of Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, and the U.S. Army Combined Arms Center (CAC) located there. As commander of CAC, Petraeus was responsible for oversight of the Command and General Staff College and seventeen other schools, centers, and training programs as well as for developing the Army's doctrinal manuals, training the Army's officers, and supervising the Army's center for the collection and dissemination of lessons learned. During his time at CAC, Petraeus and Marine Lt. Gen. James N. Mattis jointly oversaw the publication of Field Manual 3–24, "Counterinsurgency", the body of which was written by an extraordinarily diverse group of military officers, academics, human rights advocates, and journalists who had been assembled by Petraeus and Mattis.


title: David Petraeus

text: At both Fort Leavenworth and throughout the military's schools and training programs, Petraeus integrated the study of counterinsurgency into lesson plans and training exercises. In recognition of the fact that soldiers in Iraq often performed duties far different from those for which they trained, Petraeus stressed the importance of teaching soldiers how to think and how to fight, and the need to foster flexibility and adaptability in leaders.


title: David Petraeus

text: Petraeus called this change the most significant part of The Surge, saying in 2016, "the surge that mattered most was the surge of ideas. It was the change of strategy, and in many respects, this represented quite a significant change to what it was we were doing before the surge." Petraeus has been called "the world's leading expert in counter-insurgency warfare". Later, having refined his ideas on counterinsurgency based on the implementation of the new counterinsurgency doctrine in Iraq, he published both in Iraq as well as in the Sep/Oct 2008 edition of "Military Review" his "Commander's Counterinsurgency Guidance" to help guide leaders and units in the Multi-National Force-Iraq.


title: David Petraeus

text: Upon his graduation from West Point in 1974, Petraeus was commissioned an infantry officer. After completing Ranger School (Distinguished Honor Graduate and other honors), Petraeus was assigned to the 509th Airborne Battalion Combat Team, a light infantry unit stationed in Vicenza, Italy. Ever since, light infantry has been at the core of his career, punctuated by assignments to mechanized units, unit commands, staff assignments, and educational institutions. After leaving the 509th as a first lieutenant, Petraeus began a brief association with mechanized units when he became assistant operations officer on the staff of the 2nd Brigade, 24th Infantry Division (Mechanized), at Fort Stewart, Georgia. In 1979, he assumed command of a company in the same division: A Company, 2nd Battalion, 19th Infantry Regiment (Mechanized), and then served as that battalion's operations officer, a major's position that he held as a junior captain.


title: David Petraeus

text: In 1981, Petraeus became aide-de-camp to General John Galvin, then commanding general of the 24th Infantry Division (Mechanized). He spent the next few years furthering his military and civilian education, including spending 1982–83 at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, attending the Command and General Staff College. At graduation in 1983, he was the General George C. Marshall Award winner as the top graduate of the U.S. Army Command and General Staff College. From 1983 to 1985, he was at Princeton; and 1985–87 at West Point.


title: David Petraeus

text: After earning his Ph.D. and teaching at West Point, Petraeus continued up the rungs of the command ladder, serving as military assistant to Gen. John Galvin, the Supreme Allied Commander in Europe. From there, he moved to the 3rd Infantry Division (Mechanized). During 1988–1989, he served as operations officer to the 3rd Infantry Division (Mechanized)'s 30th Infantry Regiment. He was then posted as an aide and assistant executive officer to the U.S. Army Chief of Staff, General Carl Vuono, in Washington, D.C.


title: David Petraeus

text: Upon promotion to lieutenant colonel, Petraeus moved from the office of the chief of staff to Fort Campbell, Kentucky, where he commanded the 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault)'s 3rd Battalion 187th Infantry Regiment, known as the "Iron Rakkasans", from 1991 to 1993. During this period, he suffered one of the more dramatic incidents in his career; in 1991 he was accidentally shot in the chest with an M-16 rifle during a live-fire exercise when a soldier tripped and his rifle discharged. He was taken to Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, Tennessee, where he was operated on by future U.S. Senator Bill Frist. The hospital released him early after he did fifty push-ups without resting, just a few days after the accident.


title: David Petraeus

text: During 1993–94, Petraeus continued his long association with the 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault) as the division's assistant chief of staff, G-3 (plans, operations, and training) and installation director of plans, training, and mobilization (DPTM). In 1995, he was assigned to the United Nations Mission in Haiti Military Staff as its chief operations officer during Operation Uphold Democracy. His next command, from 1995 to 1997, was the 1st Brigade, 82nd Airborne Division, centered on the 504th Parachute Infantry Regiment. At that post, his brigade's training cycle at Fort Polk's Joint Readiness Training Center for low-intensity warfare was chronicled by novelist and military enthusiast Tom Clancy in his book "Airborne".


title: David Petraeus

text: From 1997 to 1999, Petraeus served in the Pentagon as executive assistant to the director of the Joint Staff and then to the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs, Gen. Henry Shelton, who described Petraeus as "a high-energy individual who likes to lead from the front, in any field, he is going into." In 1999, as a brigadier general, Petraeus returned to the 82nd, serving as the assistant division commander for operations and then, briefly, as acting commanding general. During his time with the 82nd, he deployed to Kuwait as part of Operation Desert Spring, the continuous rotation of combat forces through Kuwait during the decade after the Gulf War.


title: David Petraeus

text: From the 82nd, he moved on to serve as chief of staff of XVIII Airborne Corps at Fort Bragg during 2000–2001. In 2000, Petraeus suffered his second major injury, when, during a civilian skydiving jump, his parachute collapsed at low altitude due to a hook turn, resulting in a hard landing that broke his pelvis. He was selected for promotion to major general in 2001. During 2001–2002, as a brigadier general, Petraeus served a ten-month tour in Bosnia and Herzegovina as part of Operation Joint Forge. In Bosnia, he was the NATO Stabilization Force assistant chief of staff for operations as well as the deputy commander of the U.S. Joint Interagency Counter-Terrorism Task Force, a command created after the September 11 attacks to add counterterrorism capability to the U.S. forces attached to the NATO command in Bosnia. In 2004, he was promoted to lieutenant general.


title: David Petraeus

text: In 2007, he was promoted to General. On April 23, 2008, Secretary of Defense Gates announced that President Bush was nominating General Petraeus to command U.S. Central Command (USCENTCOM), headquartered in Tampa, Florida. In 2010, Petraeus was nominated to command the International Security Assistance Force in Afghanistan, which required Senate confirmation. He was confirmed on June 30, 2010, and took over command from temporary commander Lieutenant-General Sir Nick Parker on July 4, 2010.


title: David Petraeus

text: In 2003, Petraeus, then a major general, saw combat for the first time when he commanded the 101st Airborne Division during V Corps's drive to Baghdad. In a campaign chronicled in detail by Pulitzer Prize-winning author Rick Atkinson of "The Washington Post" in the book "In the Company of Soldiers", Petraeus led his division through fierce fighting south of Baghdad, in Karbala, Hilla and Najaf. Following the fall of Baghdad, the division conducted the longest heliborne assault on record in order to reach Nineveh Governorate, where it would spend much of 2003. The 1st Brigade was responsible for the area south of Mosul, the 2nd Brigade for the city itself, and the 3rd Brigade for the region stretching toward the Syrian border. An often-repeated story of Petraeus's time with the 101st is his asking of embedded "The Washington Post" reporter Rick Atkinson to "Tell me how this ends", an anecdote he and other journalists have used to portray Petraeus as an early recognizer of the difficulties that would follow the fall of Baghdad.


title: David Petraeus

text: In Mosul, a city of nearly two million people, Petraeus and the 101st employed classic counterinsurgency methods to build security and stability, including conducting targeted kinetic operations and using force judiciously, jump-starting the economy, building local security forces, staging elections for the city council within weeks of their arrival, overseeing a program of public works, reinvigorating the political process, and launching 4,500 reconstruction projects in Iraq.


title: David Petraeus

text: This approach can be attributed to Petraeus, who had been steeped in nation-building during his previous tours in nations such as Bosnia and Haiti and thus approached nation-building as a central military mission and who was "prepared to act while the civilian authority in Baghdad was still getting organized", according to Michael Gordon of "The New York Times". Some Iraqis gave Petraeus the nickname 'King David', which was later adopted by some of his colleagues. In 2004, "Newsweek" stated that "It's widely accepted that no force worked harder to win Iraqi hearts and minds than the 101st Airborne Division led by Petraeus."


title: David Petraeus

text: One of the General's major public works was the restoration and re-opening of the University of Mosul. Petraeus strongly supported the use of commanders' discretionary funds for public works, telling Coalition Provisional Authority director L. Paul Bremer "Money is ammunition" during the director's first visit to Mosul. Petraeus's often repeated catchphrase was later incorporated into official military briefings and was also eventually incorporated into the U.S. Army Counterinsurgency Field Manual drafted with Petraeus's oversight.


title: David Petraeus

text: In February 2004, the 101st was replaced in Mosul by a portion of I Corps headquarters, but operational forces consisted solely of a unit roughly one quarter its size—a Stryker brigade. The following summer, the governor of Nineveh Province was assassinated, and most of the Sunni Arab Provincial Council members walked out in the ensuing selection of the new governor, leaving Kurdish members in charge of a predominantly Sunni Arab province. Later that year, the local police commander defected to the Kurdish Minister of Interior in Irbil after repeated assassination attempts against him, attacks on his house, and the kidnapping of his sister. The largely Sunni Arab police collapsed under insurgent attacks launched at the same time Coalition Forces attacked Fallujah in November 2004.


title: David Petraeus

text: There are differing explanations for the apparent collapse of the police force in Mosul. "The Guardian" quoted an anonymous U.S. diplomat saying, "Mosul basically collapsed after he [Petraeus] left." Former diplomat Peter Galbraith criticized Petraeus's command of the 101st, saying his achievements had been exaggerated and his reputation inflated. He wrote for "The New York Review of Books" that "Petraeus ignored warnings from America's Kurdish allies that he was appointing the wrong people to key positions in Mosul's local government and police."


title: David Petraeus

text: On the other hand, in the book "Fiasco", "The Washington Post" reporter Tom Ricks wrote that "Mosul was quiet while he (Petraeus) was there, and likely would have remained so had his successor had as many troops as he had—and as much understanding of counterinsurgency techniques." Ricks went on to say that "the population-oriented approach Petraeus took in Mosul in 2003 would be the one the entire U.S. Army in Iraq was trying to adopt in 2006."


title: David Petraeus

text: "Time" columnist Joe Klein largely agreed with Ricks, writing that the Stryker brigade that replaced the 101st "didn't do any of the local governance that Petraeus had done." Moving away from counterinsurgency principles, "they were occupiers, not builders". "The New York Times" reporter Michael Gordon and retired General Bernard Trainor echoed Ricks and Klein, including in their book "Cobra II" a quote that Petraeus "did it right and won over Mosul."


title: David Petraeus

text: In June 2004, less than six months after the 101st returned to the U.S., Petraeus was promoted to lieutenant general and became the first commander of the Multi-National Security Transition Command - Iraq. This newly created command had responsibility for training, equipping, and mentoring Iraq's growing army, police, and other security forces, as well as developing Iraq's security institutions and building associated infrastructure, such as training bases, police stations, and border forts.


title: David Petraeus

text: During Petraeus's fifteen months at the helm of MNSTC-I, he stood up a three-star command virtually from scratch and in the midst of serious fighting in places like Fallujah, Mosul, and Najaf. By the end of his command, some 100,000 Iraqi Security Forces had been trained; Iraqi Army and Police were being employed in combat; countless reconstruction projects had been executed; and hundreds of thousands of weapons, body armor, and other equipment had been distributed in what was described as the "largest military procurement and distribution effort since World War II", at a cost of over $11 billion.


title: David Petraeus

text: In September 2004, Petraeus wrote an article for "The Washington Post" in which he described the tangible progress being made in building Iraq's security forces from the ground up while also noting the many challenges associated with doing so. "Although there have been reverses – not to mention horrific terrorist attacks," Petraeus wrote, "there has been progress in the effort to enable Iraqis to shoulder more of the load for their own security, something they are keen to do."


title: David Petraeus

text: Some of the challenges involved in building security forces had to do with accomplishing this task in the midst of a tough insurgency—or, as Petraeus wrote, "making the mission akin to repairing an aircraft while in flight—and while being shot at." Other challenges included allegations of corruption as well as efforts to improve Iraq's supply accountability procedures. For example, according to former Interim Iraq Governing Council member Ali A. Allawi in "The Occupation of Iraq: Winning the War, Losing the Peace", "under the very noses of the security transition command, officials both inside and outside the ministry of defense were planning to embezzle most, if not all, of the procurement budget of the army." "The Washington Post" stated in August 2007 that the Pentagon had lost track of approximately 30% of weapons supplied to the Iraqi security forces. The General Accounting Office said that the weapons distribution was haphazard, rushed, and did not follow established procedures—particularly from 2004 to 2005, when security training was led by Petraeus and Iraq's security forces began to see combat in places like Najaf and Samarra.


title: David Petraeus

text: Over a hundred thousand AK-47 assault rifles and pistols were delivered to Iraqi forces without full documentation, and some of the missing weapons may have been abducted by Iraqi insurgents. Thousands of body armour pieces have also been lost. "The Independent" has stated that the military believed "the situation on the ground was so urgent, and the agency responsible for recording the transfers of arms so short-staffed, that field commanders had little choice in the matter." The Pentagon conducted its own investigation, and accountability was subsequently regained for many of the weapons.


title: David Petraeus

text: Following his second tour in Iraq, Petraeus authored a widely read article in "Military Review", listing fourteen observations he had made during two tours in Iraq, including: do not do too much with your own hands, money is ammunition, increasing the number of stakeholders is critical to success, success in a counterinsurgency requires more than just military operations, ultimate success depends on local leaders, there is no substitute for flexible and adaptable leaders, and, finally, a leader's most important task is to set the right tone.


title: David Petraeus

text: The intervening time between the Iraq commands was spent at Fort Leavenworth, where Petraeus further developed his military doctrine and pursued an important White House contact in Meghan O'Sullivan who was the principal adviser to the president on the war. In January 2007, as part of his overhauled Iraq strategy, President George W. Bush announced that Petraeus would succeed Gen. George Casey as commanding general of MNF-I to lead all U.S. troops in Iraq. In his memoirs, President Bush likened his selection of Petraeus to the elevations of other great generals of American history, writing, "Lincoln discovered Generals Grant and Sherman. Roosevelt had Eisenhower and Bradley. I found David Petraeus and Ray Odierno."


title: David Petraeus

text: On January 23, the Senate Armed Services Committee held Petraeus's nomination hearing, during which he testified on his ideas for Iraq, particularly the strategy underpinning the "surge" of forces. During his opening statement, Petraeus stated that "security of the population, especially in Baghdad, and in partnership with the Iraqi Security Forces, will be the focus of the military effort." He went on to state that security would require establishing a persistent presence, especially in Iraq's most threatened neighborhoods. He also noted the critical importance of helping Iraq increase its governmental capacity, develop employment programs, and improve daily life for its citizens.


title: David Petraeus

text: Throughout Petraeus's tenure in Iraq, Multi-National Force-Iraq endeavored to work with the Government of Iraq to carry out this strategy that focused on securing the population. Doing so required establishing—and maintaining—persistent presence by living among the population, separating reconcilable Iraqis from irreconcilable enemies, relentlessly pursuing the enemy, taking back sanctuaries and then holding areas that had been cleared, and continuing to develop Iraq's security forces and to support local security forces, often called Sons of Iraq, and integrate them into the Iraqi Army and Police and other employment programs.


title: David Petraeus

text: The strategy underpinning the "surge" of forces, as well as the ideas Petraeus included in U.S. Army Field Manual 3–24, "Counterinsurgency", have been referred to by some journalists and politicians as the "Petraeus Doctrine," although the surge itself was proposed a few months before Petraeus took command. Despite the misgivings of most Democratic and a few Republican senators over the proposed implementation of the "Petraeus Doctrine" in Iraq, specifically regarding the troop surge, Petraeus was unanimously confirmed as a four-star general and MNF-I commander on January 27.


title: David Petraeus

text: Before leaving for Iraq, Petraeus recruited a number of highly educated military officers, nicknamed "Petraeus guys" or "designated thinkers," to advise him as commander, including Col. Mike Meese, head of the Social Sciences Department at West Point and Col. H.R. McMaster, famous for his leadership at the Battle of 73 Easting in the Gulf War and in the pacification of Tal Afar more recently, as well as for his doctoral dissertation on Vietnam-era civil-military relations titled "Dereliction of Duty". While most of Petraeus's closest advisers were American military officers, he also hired Lt. Col. David Kilcullen of the Australian Army, who was working for the U.S. State Department. Kilcullen upon his return from Iraq published "The Accidental Guerrilla", and has discussed the central front of the war and lessons learned in Iraq in "The Washington Post".


title: David Petraeus

text: After taking command of MNF-I on February 10, 2007, Petraeus inspected U.S. and Iraqi units all over Iraq, visiting outposts in greater Baghdad, Tikrit, Baquba, Ramadi, Mosul, Kirkuk, Bayji, Samarra, Basrah and as far west as al-Hit and Al Qaim. In April 2007, Petraeus made his first visit to Washington as MNF-I Commander, reporting to President Bush and Congress on the progress of the "surge" and the overall situation in Iraq. During this visit he met privately with members of Congress and reportedly argued against setting a timetable for U.S. troop withdrawal from Iraq.


title: David Petraeus

text: By late May 2007, Congress had not imposed any timetables in war funding legislation for troop withdrawal. The enacted legislation did mandate that Petraeus and the U.S. Ambassador to Iraq, Ryan Crocker, deliver a report to Congress by September 15, 2007, detailing their assessment of the military, economic and political situation of Iraq.


title: David Petraeus

text: In June 2007, Petraeus stated in an interview that there were "astonishing signs of normalcy" in Baghdad, and this comment drew criticism from Senate majority leader Harry Reid. In the same interview, however, Petraeus stated that "many problems remain" and he noted the need to help the Iraqis "stitch back together the fabric of society that was torn during the height of sectarian violence" in late 2006. Petraeus also warned that he expected that the situation in Iraq would require the continued deployment of the elevated troop level of more than 150,000 beyond September 2007; he also stated that U.S. involvement in Iraq could last years afterward.


title: David Petraeus

text: These statements are representative of the fact that throughout their time in Iraq, Petraeus and Crocker remained circumspect and refused to classify themselves as optimists or pessimists, noting, instead, that they were realists and that the reality in Iraq was very hard. They also repeatedly emphasized the importance of forthright reports and an unvarnished approach. Indeed, Petraeus's realistic approach and assessments were lauded during the McLaughlin Group's 2008 Year-End Awards, when Monica Crowley nominated Petraeus for the most honest person of the year, stating, "[H]e spoke about the great successes of the surge in Iraq, but he always tempered it, never sugar-coated it."


title: David Petraeus

text: In July 2007, the White House submitted to Congress the interim report on Iraq, which stated that coalition forces had made satisfactory progress on 6 of 18 benchmarks set by Congress. On September 7, 2007, in a letter addressed to the troops he was commanding, Petraeus wrote that much military progress had been made, but that the national-level political progress that was hoped for had not been achieved. Petraeus's Report to Congress on the Situation in Iraq was delivered to Congress on September 10, 2007.


title: David Petraeus

text: On August 15, 2007, the "Los Angeles Times" had stated that, according to unnamed administration officials, the report "would actually be written by the White House, with inputs from officials throughout the government." However, Petraeus declared in his testimony to Congress that "I wrote this testimony myself." He further elaborated that his testimony to Congress "has not been cleared by, nor shared with, anyone in the Pentagon, the White House, or Congress."


title: David Petraeus

text: In his September Congressional testimony, Petraeus stated, "As a bottom line up front, the military objectives of the surge are, in large measure, being met." He cited numerous factors for this progress, to include the fact that Coalition and Iraqi Forces had dealt significant blows to Al-Qaeda Iraq and had disrupted Shia militias, that ethno-sectarian violence had been reduced, and that the tribal rejection of Al-Qaeda had spread from Anbar Province to numerous other locations across Iraq. Based on this progress and additional progress expected to be achieved, Petraeus recommended drawing down the surge forces from Iraq and gradually transitioning increased responsibilities to Iraqi Forces, as their capabilities and conditions on the ground permitted.


title: David Petraeus

text: Democratic Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada argued Petraeus's "plan is just more of the same" and "is neither a drawdown or a change in mission that we need." Democratic Representative Robert Wexler of Florida accused Petraeus of "cherry-picking statistics" and "massaging information." Chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee Tom Lantos of California called Petraeus and U.S. Ambassador to Iraq Ryan Crocker "two of our nation's most capable public servants" and said Democrats feel "esteem for their professionalism." But he also said that "We can no longer take their assertions on Iraq at face value"; concluding, "We need to get out of Iraq, for that country's sake as well as our own."


title: David Petraeus

text: Republican Presidential candidate Duncan Hunter called the report "a candid, independent assessment given with integrity." Republican senator Jon Kyl of Arizona stated, "I commend General Petraeus for his honest and forthright assessment of the situation in Iraq." Anti-war Republican senator Chuck Hagel of Nebraska criticized the report while praising Petraeus, saying "It's not your fault, general. ... It's not Ambassador Crocker's fault. It's this administration's fault." A "USA Today"/Gallup poll taken after Petraeus's report to Congress showed virtually no change in negative public opinion toward the war. A Pew Research Center survey, however, found that most Americans who had heard about the report approved of Petraeus's recommendations.


title: David Petraeus

text: On September 20, the Senate passed an amendment by Republican John Cornyn III of Texas designed to "strongly condemn personal attacks on the honor and integrity of General Petraeus." Cornyn drafted the amendment in response to a controversial full-page ad by the liberal group Moveon.org in the September 10, 2007, edition of "The New York Times". All forty-nine Republican senators and twenty-two Democratic senators voted in support. The House passed a similar resolution by a 341–79 vote on September 26.


title: David Petraeus

text: In December 2007, "The Washington Post" "Fact Checker" stated that "While some of Petraeus's statistics are open to challenge, his claims about a general reduction in violence have been borne out over subsequent months. It now looks as if Petraeus was broadly right on this issue at least."


title: David Petraeus

text: Based on the conditions on the ground, in October 2007, Petraeus and U.S. Ambassador to Iraq Ryan Crocker revised their campaign plan for Iraq. In recognition of the progress made against Al Qaeda Iraq, one of the major points would be "shifting the U.S. military effort to focus more on countering Shiite militias."


title: David Petraeus

text: On February 18, 2008, "USA Today" stated that "the U.S. effort has shown more success" and that, after the number of troops reached its peak in fall 2007, "U.S. deaths were at their lowest levels since the 2003 invasion, civilian casualties were down, and street life was resuming in Baghdad." In light of the significant reduction in violence and as the surge brigades began to redeploy without replacement, Petraeus characterized the progress as tenuous, fragile, and reversible and repeatedly reminded all involved that much work remained to be done. During an early February trip to Iraq, Defense Secretary Robert Gates endorsed the idea of a period of consolidation and evaluation upon completion of the withdrawal of surge brigades from Iraq.


title: David Petraeus

text: Petraeus and Crocker continued these themes at their two full days of testimony before Congress on April 8 and 9. During his opening statement, Petraeus stated that "there has been significant but uneven security progress in Iraq", while also noting that "the situation in certain areas is still unsatisfactory and that innumerable challenges remain" and that "the progress made since last spring is fragile and reversible." He also recommended a continuation of the drawdown of surge forces as well as a 45-day period of consolidation and evaluation after the final surge brigade had redeployed in late July. Analysts for "USA Today" and "The New York Times" stated that the hearings "lacked the suspense of last September's debate," but they did include sharp questioning as well as both skepticism and praise from various Congressional leaders.


title: David Petraeus

text: In late May 2008, the Senate Armed Services Committee held nomination hearings for Petraeus and Lieutenant General Ray Odierno to lead United States Central Command and Multi-National Force-Iraq, respectively. During the hearings, Committee Chairman Carl Levin praised these two men, stating that "we owe Gen. Petraeus and Gen. Odierno a debt of gratitude for the commitment, determination and strength that they brought to their areas of responsibility. And regardless of how long the administration may choose to remain engaged in the strife in that country, our troops are better off with the leadership these two distinguished soldiers provide."


title: David Petraeus

text: During his opening statement, Petraeus discussed four principles that would guide his efforts if confirmed as CENTCOM Commander: seeking to strengthen international partnerships; taking a "whole of government" approach; pursuing comprehensive efforts and solutions; and, finally, both supporting efforts in Iraq and Afghanistan and ensuring readiness for possible contingency operations in the future. Petraeus also noted that during the week before his testimony, the number of security incidents in Iraq was the lowest in over four years. After Petraeus's return to Baghdad, and despite the continued drawdown of surge forces as well as recent Iraqi-led operations in places like Basrah, Mosul, and Baghdad, the number of security incidents in Iraq remained at their lowest level in over four years.


title: David Petraeus

text: In September 2008, Petraeus gave an interview to BBC News stating that he did not think using the term "victory" in describing the Iraq war was appropriate, saying "This is not the sort of struggle where you take a hill, plant the flag and go home to a victory parade ... it's not war with a simple slogan."


title: David Petraeus

text: Petraeus had discussed the term 'victory' before in March 2008, saying to NPR News that "an Iraq that is at peace with itself, at peace with its neighbors, that has a government that is representative of—and responsive to—its citizenry and is a contributing member of the global community" could arguably be called 'victory'. On the eve of his change of command, in September 2008, Petraeus stated that "I don't use terms like victory or defeat ... I'm a realist, not an optimist or a pessimist. And the reality is that there has been significant progress but there are still serious challenges."


title: David Petraeus

text: On September 16, 2008, Petraeus formally gave over his command in Iraq to General Raymond T. Odierno in a government ceremony presided by Defense Secretary Robert Gates. During the ceremony, Gates stated that Petraeus "played a historic role" and created the "translation of a great strategy into a great success in very difficult circumstances." Gates also told Petraeus he believed "history will regard you as one of our nation's greatest battle captains." He presented Petraeus with the Defense Distinguished Service Medal. At the event, Petraeus mentioned the difficulty in getting the Sons of Iraq absorbed into the central Government of Iraq and warned about future consequences if the effort stalled.


title: David Petraeus

text: When speaking of these and other challenges, Petraeus noted that "the gains [achieved in Iraq] are tenuous and unlikely to survive without an American effort that outlasts his tenure." Even so, as Petraeus departed Iraq, it appeared to many that he was leaving a much different Iraq than the one that existed when he took command in February 2007. As described by Dexter Filkins, "violence has plummeted from its apocalyptic peaks, Iraqi leaders are asserting themselves, and streets that once seemed dead are flourishing with life." The January 3, 2009, Iraq Trends (a chart produced weekly by the MNF-I) seemed to illustrate an increase in incidents followed by the sharp decline described by Dexter Filkens and others.


title: David Petraeus

text: Petraeus' command of coalition forces during the Surge in Iraq was lauded by a number of observers. In his book "The Savior Generals" historian Victor Davis Hanson wrote, "that without David Petraeus, the American effort in Iraq—along with the reputation of the U.S. military in the Middle East—would have been lost long ago." In her introduction of Petraeus at the Baccalaureate ceremony for the Class of 2009 at Princeton University, President Shirley Tilghman described his accomplishments. While acknowledging that much remained to be accomplished in Iraq, Tilghman paid tribute to Petraeus's "leadership in rethinking American military strategy through his principles of counterinsurgency," which are, she said, "eliminating 'simplistic definitions of victory and defeat in favor of incremental and nuanced progress.'"


title: David Petraeus

text: On October 31, 2008, Petraeus assumed command of the United States Central Command (USCENTCOM) headquartered in Tampa, Florida. Petraeus was responsible for U.S. operations in 20 countries spreading from Egypt to Pakistan—including Operations Iraqi Freedom and Enduring Freedom. During his time at CENTCOM, Petraeus advocated that countering the terrorist threats in the CENTCOM region required more than just counter-terrorism forces, demanding instead whole-of-government, comprehensive approaches akin to those of counterinsurgency. One of his closest colleagues said that Petraeus knew that defeating an insurgency required living among the people, convincing them that we were better than the insurgents. "[Y]ou can't kill 'em all ... [Y]ou can't kill your way out of an insurgency. ... You have to find other kinds of ammunition, and it's not always a bullet."


title: David Petraeus

text: Petraeus reiterated this view in a 2009 interview published in "Parade" magazine. In an interview for "Newsweek" magazine's "Interview Issue: The View From People Who Make a Difference," Petraeus expressed his support for President Obama's announced Afghanistan strategy and discussed his view that reconciliation efforts in Afghanistan should for the time being occur "at the lower and midlevels."


title: David Petraeus

text: In mid-August 2009, Petraeus established the Afghanistan-Pakistan Center of Excellence within the USCENTCOM Directorate of Intelligence to provide leadership to coordinate, integrate and focus analysis efforts in support of operations in Afghanistan and Pakistan.


title: David Petraeus

text: During a February 2010 World Affairs Council event in Philadelphia, General Petraeus discussed the ways in which diplomacy, history, and culture impact overall military strategy, then explained how these issues informed the U.S. approach to counterinsurgencies in Iraq and Afghanistan.


title: David Petraeus

text: On March 16, 2010, in testimony to the Senate Armed Services Committee, Petraeus described the continuing Israeli–Palestinian conflict as a challenge to U.S. interests in the region. According to the testimony, the conflict was "fomenting anti-American sentiment" due to "a perception of U.S. favoritism for Israel." This was widely commented on in the media. When questioned by journalist Philip Klein, Petraeus said the original reporter "picked apart" and "spun" his speech. He said he believed there were many important factors standing in the way of peace, including "a whole bunch of extremist organizations, some of which by the way deny Israel's right to exist. There's a country that has a nuclear program who denies that the Holocaust took place. So again we have all these factors in there. This [Israel] is just one."


title: David Petraeus

text: In March 2010, Petraeus visited the New Hampshire Institute of Politics at Saint Anselm College to speak about Iraq and Afghanistan. Petraeus spoke a few days after the seventh anniversary of the U.S. invasion of Iraq, noting the successful changes in Iraq since the U.S. troop surge. The visit to Saint Anselm created rumors that Petraeus was contemplating a run for the presidency; however, he denied the speculation, saying that he was not aware that the college had been the site of numerous presidential debates.


title: David Petraeus

text: Toward the close of his tenure as CENTCOM Commander, including in his interview published in "Vanity Fair", Petraeus discussed the effort to determine and send to Afghanistan the right "inputs" for success there; these inputs included several structures and organizations that proved important in Iraq, including "an engagement cell to support reconciliation ... a finance cell to go after financing of the enemy ... [a] really robust detainee-operations task force, a rule-of-law task force, an energy-fusion cell—all these other sort of nonstandard missions that are very important."


title: David Petraeus

text: On May 5, 2010, "The New York Times" published an article suggesting there was mounting evidence of a Taliban role in the Times Square bombing plot. On May 7, 2010, Petraeus announced that Times Square bombing suspect Faisal Shahzad was a "lone wolf" terrorist who did not work with others. On May 10, 2010, Attorney General Eric Holder said that the evidence showed the Pakistani Taliban directed this plot.


title: David Petraeus

text: General Petraeus was diagnosed with early-stage prostate cancer in February 2009 and underwent two months of successful radiation treatment at Walter Reed Army Medical Center. The diagnosis and treatment were not publicly disclosed until October 2009 because Petraeus and his family regarded his illness as a personal matter that did not interfere with the performance of his duties.


title: David Petraeus

text: On June 15, 2010, Petraeus momentarily fainted while being questioned by the Senate Armed Services Committee. He quickly recovered and was able to walk and exit the room without assistance. He attributed the episode to possible dehydration.


title: David Petraeus

text: On June 23, 2010, President Obama announced that he would nominate Petraeus to succeed General Stanley A. McChrystal as the commander of U.S. Forces in Afghanistan. The change of command was prompted by McChrystal's comments about the Obama administration and its policies in Afghanistan during an interview with "Rolling Stone" magazine. The nomination was technically a positional step down from his position as commander of Central Command; however, the President said that he believed that he was the best man for the job. After being confirmed by the Senate on June 30, Petraeus formally assumed command on July 4.<ref name="CBC-2010/07/03/petraeus-afghanistan"></ref>


title: David Petraeus

text: During the assumption-of-command remarks, Petraeus provided his vision and goals to NATO, the members of his command, and his Afghan partners. As he was known to do while the commander in Iraq, Petraeus delivered his first Letter to the Troops on the same day he assumed command.


title: David Petraeus

text: On August 1, 2010, shortly after the disclosure of the Afghan war logs on WikiLeaks, which included reports of high civilian deaths and increased Taliban attacks, Petraeus issued his updated Tactical Directive for the prevention of civilian casualties, providing guidance and intent for the use of force by the U.S. military units operating in Afghanistan (replacing the July 1, 2009, version). This directive reinforced the concept of "disciplined use of force in partnership with Afghan Security Forces" in the fight against insurgent forces.


title: David Petraeus

text: In the October 2010 issue of "Army Magazine", Petraeus discussed changes that had taken place over the previous 18 months, including sections discussing "setting the conditions for progress," "capitalizing on the conditions for progress," "improving security," "supporting governance expansion," "promoting economic development," "reducing corruption," and "our troopers: carrying out a difficult mission."


title: David Petraeus

text: Sources interviewed by Steve Coll were critical of aspects of Petraeus's tenure as ISAF commander. Some described Petraeus as being physically exhausted from his previous tours abroad (as well as his recovery from prostate cancer), having a proclivity to see Afghanistan through the prism of his experience in Iraq—to the point of occasionally referring to Afghanistan as "Iraq"—and being slow to react to "green-on-blue" or "insider attacks" by Afghan soldiers against their American partners. Petraeus sought to recreate the "Sunni Awakening" in Iraq by offering financial inducements to former Taliban insurgents to integrate into Hamid Karzai's government, but the results were not impressive.


title: David Petraeus

text: As commander in Afghanistan, Petraeus joined President Obama as a primary target for Osama bin Laden. After his death, documents recovered from bin Laden's compound unveiled a plot to assassinate the two men as they traveled by plane. Bin Laden's communications with a top deputy stated, "The reason for concentrating on them is that Obama is the head of infidelity and killing him automatically will make [Vice President] Biden take over the presidency. Biden is totally unprepared for that post, which will lead the U.S. into a crisis. As for Petraeus, he is the man of the hour ... and killing him would alter the war's path" in Afghanistan.


title: David Petraeus

text: In early March 2011, Petraeus made a "rare apology" following a NATO helicopter airstrike under his command that resulted in the deaths of nine Afghan boys and the wounding of a 10th, as they gathered firewood in Eastern Afghanistan. In a statement, Petraeus apologized to the members of the Afghan government, the people of Afghanistan, and the surviving family members, and said, "These deaths should have never happened." Several journalists and observers noted the humanitarian candor in Petraeus's open regrets. Petraeus relinquished command of U.S. and NATO forces in Afghanistan on July 18, 2011. He received the Defense Distinguished Service Medal and the NATO Meritorious Service Medal for his service.


title: David Petraeus

text: Petraeus retired from the U.S. Army on August 31, 2011. His retirement ceremony was held at Joint Base Myer–Henderson Hall. During this ceremony, he was awarded the Army Distinguished Service Medal by Deputy Secretary of Defense William J. Lynn. During the ceremony, Lynn noted that Petraeus had played an important role as both a combat leader and strategist in the post-9/11 world. Lynn also cited General Petraeus's efforts in current counter insurgency strategy.


title: David Petraeus

text: Admiral Michael Mullen, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff in his remarks compared General Petraeus to Ulysses S. Grant, John J. Pershing, George Marshall and Dwight D. Eisenhower as one of the great battle captains of American history. With his four-star rank, Petraeus receives an annual pension of about $220,000.


title: David Petraeus

text: On April 28, 2011, President Barack Obama announced that he had nominated Petraeus to become the new Director of the Central Intelligence Agency. The nomination was confirmed by the United States Senate 94–0 on June 30, 2011. Petraeus was sworn in at the White House on September 6 and then ceremonially sworn in by Vice President Joe Biden at CIA Headquarters in Langley, Virginia on October 11, 2011.


title: David Petraeus

text: Petraeus's tenure at the CIA was more low profile than that of his predecessor, Leon Panetta, declining to give media interviews while director and speaking to Congress in closed sessions. He also differed from Panetta in management style, as an article in "The New York Times" published just days before his resignation said; Panetta "wooed the work force and often did not question operational details, [while] Petraeus is a demanding boss who does not hesitate to order substandard work redone or details of plans adjusted". Petraeus's philosophy on leadership at the time was summarized in a twelve-point article published by Newsweek on November 5, 2012.


title: David Petraeus

text: Although Petraeus was given good marks by most observers for his work heading the CIA, during October 2012 some critics took issue with the availability of accurate information from the CIA concerning a terrorist attack in Benghazi, Libya, the month prior. On September 11 four Americans had been killed, including the ambassador, and more than thirty evacuated. Only seven of those evacuated did not work for the CIA. According to a "Wall Street Journal" story, other government agencies complained about being left "largely in the dark about the CIA's role," with Secretary of State Hillary Clinton telephoning Petraeus directly the night of the attacks seeking assistance. Although the "State Department believed it had a formal agreement with the CIA to provide backup security," "the CIA didn't have the same understanding about its security responsibilities," reported "The Wall Street Journal."


title: David Petraeus

text: Petraeus reportedly began an affair with Paula Broadwell, principal author of his biography, "", after Petraeus left his ISAF command on July 18, 2011, to become CIA director. Petraeus reportedly ended the affair in the summer of 2012, around the time that he learned that Broadwell had been sending harassing emails to a longstanding family friend of the Petraeuses, Jill Kelley.


title: David Petraeus

text: Kelley, a Florida socialite who frequently entertained senior military personnel at her and her husband's Tampa mansion, had approached an acquaintance who worked for the FBI Tampa Field Office in the late spring with regard to anonymous emails she considered threatening. The Bureau traced the emails to Broadwell, and noted that Broadwell appeared to be exchanging intimate messages with an email account belonging to Petraeus, which instigated an investigation into whether that account had been hacked into or was someone posing as Petraeus. According to an Associated Press report, rather than transmit emails to each other's inbox, which would have left a more obvious email trail, Petraeus and Broadwell left messages in a draft folder and the draft messages were then read by the other person when they logged into the same account.


title: David Petraeus

text: Although U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder was aware that the FBI had discovered the affair, it was not until November 6, 2012, that Petraeus's nominal superior, Director of National Intelligence James R. Clapper, was advised. That same evening Clapper called Petraeus and urged him to resign. Clapper notified the White House the next day, November 7. After being briefed on November 8, President Obama summoned Petraeus to the White House where Petraeus offered his resignation. Obama accepted his resignation on November 9, and Petraeus cited his affair when announcing that same day that he would resign as CIA Director. Eventually, Petraeus pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor charge of mishandling the classified information that he provided to his mistress and biographer.


title: David Petraeus

text: Petraeus had a strategy to influence military conditions by using press relations, both in theater of war and in Washington, according to critics of his military career. On November 13, 2012, Reagan administration Assistant Secretary of Defense Lawrence Korb, CIA analyst and Veteran Intelligence Professionals for Sanity co-founder Ray McGovern, and investigative journalist Gareth Porter appeared on Al Jazeera English. Together they assessed the general's extensive military-media strategy, linking his writings on counterguerrilla operations and subsequent military media efforts to his downfall with his female biographer. Critics said that the Petraeus media strategy would prove damaging for American policy in the future because of omissions and distorted interpretations that Washington policymakers, other experts, and the American public accepted from Petraeus's media contacts.


title: David Petraeus

text: Military historians have noted the absence of field records for the Iraq and Afghanistan military campaigns, but have not been personally critical of the commanders in theater. One additional aspect of Petraeus's career that has come under increased scrutiny since his affair came to light has been his lack of a direct combat record in relation to the many awards he received. In particular, his Bronze Star Medal with Valor device has been mentioned in several media reports and questioned by several former Army officers. The citation for Petraeus's Bronze Star with "V" device also notes his "leadership under fire," as does award of the Combat Action Badge, but neither provides a detailed account of his actions.


title: David Petraeus

text: In January 2015, "The New York Times" reported that the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Justice Department had recommended bringing felony charges against Petraeus for providing classified information to Broadwell. Petraeus denied the allegations and was reported to have had no interest in a plea deal. However, on Tuesday, March 3, 2015, the U.S. Justice Department announced that Petraeus agreed to plead guilty in federal court in Charlotte, North Carolina to a charge of unauthorized removal and retention of classified information.


title: David Petraeus

text: In the 15-page statement of facts filed by the government along with the plea agreement, the government stated that Petraeus had provided Broadwell access to documents containing Top Secret Sensitive Compartmented Information, had later moved those documents to his personal residence and stored them in an unsecured drawer, and had deliberately and intentionally lied to Federal investigators about both providing Broadwell access to the documents and their improper storage. These facts were acknowledged to be true by Petraeus as part of his plea agreement.


title: David Petraeus

text: On April 23, 2015, a federal judge sentenced Petraeus to two years' probation plus a fine of $100,000. The fine was more than double the amount the Justice Department had requested.


title: David Petraeus

text: Press accounts in January 2016 indicated that Department of Defense staff were reviewing Department of Justice documents from the Petraeus prosecution and considering whether to recommend to the Secretary of Defense that Petraeus be demoted on the Army's retired list. Laws and regulations indicate that members of the military are retired at the last rank in which they are deemed to have served successfully; Petraeus's admission of an extramarital affair and guilty plea with regard to removing and retaining classified information while serving in the grade of general could be grounds for reduction in rank to lieutenant general. The matter was reviewed by then-Secretary of the Army John M. McHugh before he left office in October 2015; he recommended no further action. On January 29, press accounts indicated that Stephen C. Hedger, Assistant Secretary of Defense for Legislative Affairs, had written to the U.S. Senate Armed Services Committee. In his letter, Hedger informed the committee that Secretary of Defense Ashton Carter had concurred with the Army's recommendation, and would not impose any further punishment on Petraeus.


title: David Petraeus

text: Petraeus was named a visiting professor at Macaulay Honors College at the City University of New York in July 2013. According to a statement from Petraeus, "I look forward to leading a seminar at Macaulay that examines the developments that could position the United States—and our North American partners—to lead the world out of the current global economic slowdown." After his anticipated $200,000 salary for the academic year drew fire from critics, Petraeus agreed to take on the teaching position for just $1 in order to keep the focus on the students and away from any monetary controversy. In September 2013 Petraeus was harassed by students at CUNY while walking on campus.


title: David Petraeus

text: On May 1, 2013, the University of Southern California named David Petraeus as a Judge Widney Professor, "a title reserved for eminent individuals from the arts, sciences, professions, business and community and national leadership". The president of the Currahee board of trustees announced May 6, 2013, that Petraeus agreed to serve on the board of trustees that preserves Camp Toccoa. During WWII, four of the main parachute infantry regiments of the Army trained at Camp Toccoa prior to their deployment.


title: David Petraeus

text: Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co. L.P., a New York investment firm, hired Petraeus as chairman of the firm's newly created KKR Global Institute in May 2013. Part of his work would support KKR's investment teams and portfolio companies when studying new investments, especially in new locations. In December 2014, Petraeus was named a partner at KKR and remains chairman of the KKR Global Institute.


title: David Petraeus

text: Royal United Services Institute (RUSI) named Petraeus as a senior vice president of the organization in August 2013. According to RUSI, "The honorary role was created by RUSI's trustees and advisory council in recognition of General Petraeus's long association with the Institute and his distinguished contribution to the study and development of defence and international security concepts, as well as his implementation of those concepts in operations in the Balkans, Iraq, and Afghanistan."


title: David Petraeus

text: In October 2013, Petraeus joined Harvard's John F. Kennedy School of Government as a non-resident senior fellow at the Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs. According to the school, Petraeus joined to lead a new project focusing on the technological, scientific and economic dynamics that are spurring renewed North American competitiveness. "The Coming North America Decades" project would analyze how potential policy choices could effect this ongoing transformation. In 2016, the center announced a new project involving Petraeus and focusing on strategic leadership.


title: David Petraeus

text: On February 10, 2014, the University of Exeter in England named Petraeus as an honorary visiting professor of the Strategy and Security Institute. Alongside the other honorary faculty, the appointment would help inform the institute's key objectives of exploring policymaking, strategy, and security.


title: David Petraeus

text: General Petraeus was one of the "11 legendary generals" profiled in the 2014 National Geographic Channel feature "American War Generals."


title: David Petraeus

text: In 2015, Petraeus suggested the U.S. should arm members of the terror group Al-Nusra Front (an offshoot of Al-Qaeda) in Syria to fight ISIS.


title: David Petraeus

text: On June 10, 2016, Petraeus and Mark Kelly, a retired NASA astronaut and later Senator from Arizona, announced the creation of the gun control group "Veterans Coalition for Common Sense".


title: David Petraeus

text: Petraeus delivered the inaugural lecture in a series dedicated to his mentor and the former Dean of The Fletcher School at Tufts University, General Jack Galvin. He also delivered the inaugural lecture in a series dedicated to Admiral Stansfield Turner at the U.S. Naval War College on August 7, 2018. The lecture series honors the achievements of Turner, who served as the college's president from 1972 to 1974.


title: David Petraeus

text: As a member of a panel discussion in October 2018 concerning a film documenting the "Stars and Stripes" newspaper, Petraeus shared his personal experiences with the newspaper with the audience.


title: David Petraeus

text: On June 12, 2019, Petraeus accepted the invitation of a three-year honorary professorship in the Institute of Conflict, Cooperation and Security (ICSS) at the University of Birmingham in England. The university's announcement of the appointment stated that Petraeus "will share insights from his career with students and researchers through a variety of interactions in Birmingham and virtually."


title: David Petraeus

text: General Petraeus was the guest speaker at the 500th Night celebration for the U.S. Military Academy's Class of 2020 at West Point, held on January 26, 2019.


title: David Petraeus

text: On November 18, 2016, an article by "The Guardian" cited "diplomatic sources" as having said that Petraeus had entered the race for U.S. Secretary of State in the Trump administration. Petraeus confirmed his interest in the position during a BBC Radio 4 interview, stating that he would serve if asked.


title: David Petraeus

text: Petraeus met with then President-elect Donald Trump at Trump Tower on November 28 to discuss the position and world affairs. Both Petraeus and Trump expressed favorable views of the meeting, with Trump taking to Twitter to announce, "Just met with General Petraeus—was very impressed!" Petraeus joined a short list of potential candidates for the position, including Mitt Romney and Rudy Giuliani.


title: David Petraeus

text: There was public speculation that his nomination could hurt Trump's administration, but Republican senators John McCain and Lindsey Graham advocated for Petraeus, calling him "an extraordinary pick". Petraeus also received support from Democratic senator Dianne Feinstein, suggesting that Democrats would keep an open mind concerning his confirmation.


title: David Petraeus

text: On December 13, 2016, Trump officially selected Rex Tillerson for the role of Secretary of State. Petraeus expressed his gratitude for Trump's consideration and deferred to former secretary of defense Robert Gates' endorsement when asked his opinion of Tillerson.


title: David Petraeus

text: On April 14, 2021, President Joe Biden announced that all U.S. troops in Afghanistan would be withdrawn from the country by September 11, 2021, against the advice of many of his top generals and many diplomats.


title: David Petraeus

text: Petraeus has been an outspoken opponent of the U.S.'s strategy for withdrawal from Afghanistan, and the agreements made with the Taliban in preparation thereof. In a Fox News interview on August 17, 2021, Petraeus called former President Donald Trump's decision to release 5,000 detainees of the Taliban held by the Afghanistan government in 2020 flawed and disastrous, with a tragic outcome. In another interview with the Wall Street Journal on August 20, 2021, he noted that the U.S. negotiated with the Taliban expecting to get something in return for withdrawing, which, he said, "didn't work out".


title: David Petraeus

text: During an interview with Fox News on May 12, 2021, Petraeus discussed his opposition to the withdrawal of U.S. forces in Afghanistan, stating, "I fear that we will come to regret this decision." He warned of the possible psychological effects on Afghan forces following removal of U.S. support, the erosion of Afghan Air Force maintenance, and the risk of a "brutal civil war".


title: David Petraeus

text: Following a military blitz by the Taliban that ended in the group capturing the country's capital, Kabul, Petraeus again questioned the poor planning of troop withdrawal from the region and reiterated the dangers the world would face from the potential establishment of Al Qaeda or the Islamic State in the Hindu Kush. In an email interview with Die Weltwoche, Petraeus stated "I do not believe that either terrorist group will pose a near-term threat to the U.S. homeland or our NATO allies. The longer-term threat will depend on our ability to identify, disrupt, and degrade any such sanctuaries."


title: David Petraeus

text: Petraeus suggested that the removal of 18,000 contractors who maintained aircraft contributed to the surrender of Afghan government forces who ended up lacking air support against the Taliban. In an interview with Brian Kilmeade Petraeus drew parallels between the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan, the Dunkirk evacuation, and the Fall of Saigon. He advised that American forces, drones, and close air support be used to secure Kabul Airport while the U.S. communicates with the Taliban to prevent them from impeding the movement of individuals that are trying to evacuate.


title: David Petraeus

text: During a discussion with CNN's Peter Bergen, Petraeus predicted that the Taliban would struggle to fund their new government following the withdrawal of U.S. and other donor nation financial support. He suggested that the resultant degradation of basic services and salaries for Afghan workers could ultimately force the Taliban to change their approach with the international community, but that it was too early to tell if the Taliban were reformed.


title: David Petraeus

text: Discussing the topic with NBC's Lester Holt, he expressed his belief that the Taliban's actions on the ground showed that they were "the same old Taliban", and that he was fairly confident that Al-Qaeda and the Islamic State would be able to re-establish sanctuaries in the region with the Taliban in power. He expressed doubt that the U.S. would become involved in the country while the Taliban was in power, outside of military and intelligence actions to protect U.S. interests, and suggested that even the establishment of an embassy for diplomatic relations would not happen "any time soon".


title: David Petraeus

text: According to Petraeus, he does not vote in elections, having stopped following his promotion to major general in 2002 as part of a desire to be seen as apolitical. He has confirmed that he did not vote in the 2016 election.


title: David Petraeus

text: In 2007, "Time" named Petraeus one of the 100 most influential leaders and revolutionaries of the year as well as one of its four runners up for Time Person of the Year. He was also named the second most influential American conservative by "The Daily Telegraph" as well as "The Daily Telegraph" 2007 Man of the Year. His Ph.D. dissertation, "The American Military and the Lessons of Vietnam: A Study of Military Influence and the Use of Force in the Post-Vietnam Era", published by Princeton University in 1987, was number two on the list of best-selling dissertations in 2007.


title: David Petraeus

text: In 2008, a poll conducted by "Foreign Policy" and "Prospect" magazines selected Petraeus as one of the world's top 100 public intellectuals. Also in 2008, the Static Line Association named Petraeus as its 2008 Airborne Man of the Year, and "Der Spiegel" named him "America's most respected soldier". As 2008 came to a close, "Newsweek" named him the 16th most powerful person in the world in its December 20, 2008, edition, and "Prospect" magazine named him the "Public Intellectual of the Year". He was also named as one of the "75 Best People in the World" in the October 2009 issue of "Esquire".


title: David Petraeus

text: On March 7, 2009, Petraeus received the Distinguished Citizen Award from the Congressional Medal of Honor Society at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library.


title: David Petraeus

text: Gen. David H. Petraeus, the top U.S. commander in the war against terrorism in the Middle East and Central Asia, was the spring commencement convocation speaker at Texas A&M University on May 13, a relatively new practice at Texas A & M.


title: David Petraeus

text: On December 9, 2010, Barbara Walters picked Petraeus for the Most Fascinating Person of 2010. Walters called the top commander in Afghanistan "an American hero". Petraeus was chosen as "one of Time magazine's 50 "People Who Mattered" in December 2010. The same year he was named number 12 of 50 people who mattered in 2010 by the "New Statesmen" magazine, and Petraeus was listed as number 8 of 100 "Foreign Policy" Top 100 Global Thinkers for 2011.


title: David Petraeus

text: The "New Statesman" annual survey presents the most influential people from pop stars and dissident activists to tech gurus and heads of state, the people doing most to shape our world keep changing. September 26, 2011, Petraeus was listed as number 2 of the 50 for 2011. The Association of Special Operations Professionals named Petraeus as its 2011 Man of the Year for 2011, and was presented the award at Ft. Bragg on November 2, 2011, at its annual Special Operations Exposition.


title: David Petraeus

text: In January 2012, Petraeus was named one of "The 50 Most Powerful People in Washington" by "GQ" magazine. Petraeus was inducted January 29, 2012, into the Reserve Officers Association's (ROA) Minuteman Hall of Fame as the 2011 Inductee during the 2012 ROA National Security Symposium. The German Order of Merit was presented to Petraeus February 14, by the German Secretary of Defense Thomas de Maizière. According to de Maizière, he is an "outstanding strategist and a true friend of the German people".


title: David Petraeus

text: On March 16, 2012, the Dutch Minister of Defense Hans Hillen knighted Petraeus at the Hague with the Knight Grand Cross of the Order of Orange-Nassau with swords. The Minister thanked Petraeus in his speech for his, "unconditional support to the Dutch troops and for being a driving force behind a successful mission. Through his personal efforts for cooperation between the Netherlands and America, the Netherlands could achieve significant operational successes with the Task Force Uruzgan."


title: David Petraeus

text: In 2012, Petraeus received the Golden Plate Award of the American Academy of Achievement. The following year, in 2013, the New-York Historical Society established the Petraeus-Hertog Lecture Leadership Library series. Petraeus was featured alongside 18 other graduates of the United States Military Academy in West Point Leadership: Profiles of Courage, a collection of leadership biographies published in 2013."


title: David Petraeus

text: Captured correspondence from Osama Bin Laden "Letters from Abbottabad" revealed that in May 2010, Bin Laden wanted to target President Barack Obama and General Petraeus. Bin Laden wrote: "The reason for concentrating on them is that Obama is the head of infidelity and killing him automatically will make Biden take over the presidency for the remainder of the term, as it is the norm over there. Biden is totally unprepared for that post, which will lead the U.S. into a crisis." It further went on to say, "As for Petraeus, he is the man of the hour in this last year of the war, and killing him would alter the war's path."


title: David Petraeus

text: Petraeus and Dr. Henry Kissinger were the inaugural recipients of the Recanati-Kaplan Award for Civic Excellence and Cultural Engagement, presented by the 92nd Street Y on May 19, 2019. 92Y later established an Online Master Class in Leadership featuring a library series of lectures by Petraeus.


title: David Petraeus

text: On November 19, 2020, General Petraeus became the first American military professional to deliver the annual Lee Knowles Lecture at Cambridge University's Trinity College.


title: David Petraeus

text: On December 7, 2020, the Institute for the Study of War launched "The General David H. Petraeus Center for Emerging Leaders" to offer new educational and professional development programs to its students. Petraeus has been on the board of ISW since November 2013.


title: Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain

text: Alexander Mark David Oxlade-Chamberlain (born 15 August 1993) is an English professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for club Liverpool.