War_Conflict

20121112-204522-pic-644889212.jpg

Associated Press 2004: David H. Petraeus transfers 101st Airborne Division command to fellow Maj. Gen. Tom Turner.

20121112-204522-pic-54522222.jpg

2008: As a presidential candidate, Barack Obama flies over Baghdad with the U.S. commander. Iraq’s government welcomed Mr. Obama with a message of apparent common ground on American troop withdrawal. (Associated Press)

20121112-204522-pic-342286304.jpg

David H. Petraeus gets a surprise visit from President Bush in September 2007. He and his commander in chief addressed cheering Marines at Al-Asad Airbase in Iraq’s Anbar province. (Associated Press)

20121112-204522-pic-624585359.jpg

2007: Mr. Petraeus faces the Senate Armed Services Committee for confirmation as the top commander of multinational forces in Iraq. The role elevated him to a modern-day Douglas MacArthur or Dwight D. Eisenhower. (The Washington Times)

DISTRICT_111208

Marilyn Wyche [cq], a D.C. resident who served in the U.S. Army at Walter Reed during Operation Desert Storm and Desert Shield, walks her dog past the D.C. World War I memorial on Monday, Nov. 12, 2012. She said she is "grateful for the recognition" of her service and wanted to come to the memorial on the observation of Veteran's Day. (Barbara L. Salisbury/The Washington Times)

DISTRICT_111207

Mayor Vincent Gray talks about the inconsistent flying of the D.C. flag at military graduations at the D.C. World War I memorial on Monday, Nov. 12, 2012. (Barbara L. Salisbury/The Washington Times)

DISTRICT_111201

Tomi Rucker, a Washington, D.C. Navy mom, says she was "saddened" when the D.C. flag was not a part of her son's boot camp graduation, particularly because the flags of the other recruits' states were. She came to the D.C. World War I Memorial on Monday, Nov. 12, 2012 to talk about the inconsistent flying of the D.C. flag at military graduations. (Barbara L. Salisbury/The Washington Times)

20121112-194043-pic-23605916.jpg

Shells fired by the Syrian army explode in the Syrian village of Bariqa (top) on Monday. Israeli tanks (above) get into firing position in the Israeli-controlled Golan Heights overlooking the Syrian village. Israel said it responded to stray mortar fire from Syria. Israel has promised a tough response if the fire continues. (Associated Press)

20121112-174728-pic-371301486.jpg

Detained Guatemalan Army soldiers wait to testify at a court hearing, in Guatemala City in October. Nine soldiers, including Army Col. Juan Chiroy Sal, were arrested and accused of extrajudicial killings at a Oct. 4 demonstration in Totonicapan, west of Guatemala City. (Associated Press)

SYRIA_WEB_20121112_0005

** FILE ** Israeli tanks in the Israeli-controlled Golan Heights overlook the Syrian village of Bariqa on Nov. 12, 2012. The Israeli military says "Syrian mobile artillery" was hit after the Israelis responded to stray mortar fire from its northern neighbor. The incident marked the second straight day that Israel has responded to fire from Syria that does not appear to be aimed at Israeli targets; nonetheless, Israel has promised a tough response if the fire continues. (Associated Press)

SYRIA_WEB_20121112_0004

Smoke rises after shells exploded in the Syrian village of Bariqa, near the Israeli-Syrian border, near Alonei Habashan in the Golan Heights on Nov. 12, 2012. An Israeli tank scored a "direct hit" on a Syrian armored vehicle after a mortar shell landed on Israeli-held territory, the military said, in the first direct confrontation between the countries since the Syrian uprising broke out, sharpening fears that Israel could be drawn into the civil war next door. (Associated Press)

Afghanistan Massacre_Live.jpg

**FILE** In this courtroom sketch, U.S. Army Staff Sgt. Robert Bales (center) is shown Nov. 5, 2012, during a preliminary hearing in a military courtroom at Joint Base Lewis McChord in Washington state. An Afghan National Army guard who reported seeing a U.S. soldier outside a remote base the night 16 civilians were massacred in March said the man did not stop even after being asked three times to do so. (Associated Press)

PETRAEUS_WEB_20121112_0010

**FILE** Gen. David Petraeus makes his exit following a Sept. 12, 2007, press conference on the current conditions in Iraq, at the National Press Club in D.C. (Rod Lamkey Jr./The Washington Times)

PETRAEUS_WEB_20121112_0008

**FILE** Gen. David Petraeus (center left), the top U.S. commander in Iraq, talks March 1, 2008, to players during a youth soccer tournament in central Baghdad. (Associated Press)