Foreign Policy: Generals Odierno and Petraeus forcefully endorse Chris Hill's swift nomination for Iraq ambassador, through Secretary Gates' chief spokesman. See the update to my piece here:

Secretary Gates' chief spokesman Geoff Morrell told The Cable Thursday: “Generals Odierno and Petraeus have come out very publicly and very forcefully in support of Amb. Hill’s nomination. I know they support it. They know him from previous assignments, they like him, they believe he is well suited to the job and are anxiously awaiting his confirmation because they do need help, frankly. ... Everybody involved with Iraq wants to find a way to replicate that arrangement"--the effective interaction between Generals Odierno and Petraeus and former US ambassador to Iraq Ryan Crocker. "So that you have an even yoke that on the civilian/diplomatic side and on the military side which share the burden and are working together to get the job done. It’s what’s in the best interest of the Iraqi people and the American people.

“With regards to [Senate] members who have issue with him, I would say this," Morrell added. “We appreciate their steadfast support of the Iraq mission. But you can’t be bullish in support of that mission and not send an ambassador in a timely fashion.”

More from Democracy Arsenal's Max Bermann, Petraeus v. McCain.

Posted by Laura at March 19, 2009 02:23 PM