Thomas Ricks on the direction of the war in Afghanistan under Petraus

Thomas E. Ricks has the bona fides to produce a worthwhile assessment of the leadership change in Afghanistan:

This week's confrontation between a senior Army general and the president of the United States may have signaled the beginning of the end of the war in Afghanistan. In a year or two, President Obama will be able to say that he gave the conflict his best shot, reshaping the strategy and even putting in charge his top guy, the general who led the surge in Iraq -- but that things still didn't work out.

Then he can begin pulling out.
(The Washington Post)

 The early buzz about Gen. Petraeus' approach to his new command make me wonder if perhaps Petraeus will prove his mettle beyond what Ricks had imagined.  I refer to reports that Petraeus intends to relax the rules of engagement.  The Rolling Stone piece that helped sink Gen. Stanley McChrystal pointed out that the restrictive rules of engagement represent a huge problem for the troops.  A change by Petraeus may help produce the type of mission unity that Ricks doubts that Petraeus can reproduce from Iraq.

Obviously the political liason problem persists, at least for now.