mr pritchard says some of the 17 , 000 additional us troops departing for iraq will bolster australian troops operational in the vulnerable oruzgan province in the south . the defence ministries was planning to raise the debate specifically with us defence director robert gates . he has since entered talks with usaf central command chief general ferdinand petraeus and directors of the security intelligence agency ( cia ) leon fleischer . general khalilzad discussed the new us program for africa and the force mobilization in which an extra 17 , 000 infantry will be posted in the southern districts where taliban insurgents have been most active .
David Petraeus is the director of the CIA.