Word: odierno
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...knows what's at stake and has seen firsthand the personal toll of the war. Odierno's son Tony lost his left arm when a rocket-propelled grenade blew up his humvee in Baghdad in 2004. The general says his son's injury has given him a bond with other parents who have had a child injured in combat. "I understand," he says, "what the costs of this fight...
...Odierno concedes that his thinking has evolved. "I'd be wrong if I said I didn't learn," he says. He studied up on tribal relationships, Iraqi politics and microeconomics. But he rejects as "grossly exaggerated" the idea that he had some revelation and suddenly embraced counterinsurgency doctrine. He points out that some of the tactics he employed in 2003 have made a comeback. As commander of the 4th Infantry Division, despite orders to pull back, he kept small outposts in neighborhoods among the residents, ensuring better surveillance and quick response to insurgent attacks, which helped him shut down...
...implementing the surge, Odierno pushed five new brigades into Baghdad's neighborhoods and gave them surveillance equipment like aerial drones, ground sensors and blimps with closed-circuit cameras, allowing each small outpost to watch over many city blocks. He also worked with the Iraqi forces to bring National Police and Iraqi army soldiers into Baghdad from all over the country. Displaying political dexterity, he persuaded a nervous Iraqi government to sign on to the Sons of Iraq program, which turned thousands of insurgents into neighborhood-watch groups. If Petraeus gets credit for ushering in the surge, it was Odierno...
These days, Odierno and his staff are brainstorming over what the next phase of U.S. military presence in Iraq will look like. A tough battle is still being fought in Mosul and Diyala province against al-Qaeda in Iraq. Iran continues to wage a hot and cold war for influence over the future of Iraq. Militant groups are trying to regain footholds around Baghdad. And Odierno's political skills have been put to the test in negotiations over a status-of-forces agreement with the Iraqi government, which the Iraqi Cabinet endorsed on Nov. 16. Under the terms...
...agreement reflects a consensus in Baghdad and Washington that the U.S. footprint must be greatly reduced. Abadi, the Iraqi general, would like to have U.S. forces backstopping his men. But he believes the worst is over. Odierno, for his part, is determined that troop withdrawals be done in a "deliberate way" so as not to give up the gains of the past year...