THEIR FIGHT NOW:

Biggest Task for U.S. General Is Training Iraqis to Fight Iraqis: A celebrated American field commander is charged with rebuilding an Iraqi security force that collapsed during April's uprisings. (DEXTER FILKINS, 6/27/04, NY Times)

On a recent afternoon in his new office in the heavily fortified Green Zone, Lt. Gen. David H. Petraeus, a celebrated American field commander, sketched his vision for how America's forces might one day extract themselves from this country.

"I know where this ends," said General Petraeus, 51, who earlier this month took control of a vast project to oversee the training of Iraqi security forces. "It ends with the Iraqis in charge of their country. You get as many Iraqis as possible to have a stake in the success of the new Iraq to defeat the insurgency."

General Petraeus seems a good man for the job.

Posted by Orrin Judd at June 27, 2004 9:45 AM