General David Petraeus is baaack, the architect of the counterinsurgency “surge” strategy that broke al Qaeda terrorists, Shia militiamen, and co-opted Sunnis insurgents in Iraq, has stepped down from U.S. Central Command. He has been confirmed as the new U.S commander in Afghanistan, stepping in for his disgraced subordinate, former Afghan war commander Gen. Stanley McCrystal. McCrystal resigned last week after he and members of his staff unwisely–though perhaps deliberately–criticized civilian leadership in an interview with a Rolling Stone reporter.    

One of the first and perhaps most glaring issues Gen. Petraeus will face once he takes his new command will be whether or not he can function with the very same civilian counterparts Gen. McCrystal savaged. National Security Advisor Jim Jones, Afghan ambassador Karl Eikenberry, and Special Representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan Richard Holbrooke have not worked well with the military and have created barriers to working with the Afghani and Pakistani governments. Even Democratic  Senator Dianne Feinstein warned that the Obama Administration may need a shake-up of the civilian leadership in what is now the deadliest month of America’s longest running war.