Gen. Petraeus assumes command of 130,000 US, NATO forces in Afghanistan

Gen. Petraeus takes command of US, NATO forces

KABUL, Afghanistan — Gen. David Petraeus has formally assumed command of the 130,000-strong international force in Afghanistan at a time of rising casualties and growing skepticism about the direction of the nearly 9-year-old war.

Petraeus received two flags — one for the U.S. and the other for NATO — during a ceremony attended by several hundred NATO and Afghan officials at a grassy area just outside coalition headquarters in Kabul.

Petraeus succeeds Gen. Stanley McChrystal, who was fired last month for intemperate remarks he and his aides made to Rolling Stone magazine about Obama administration officials. On Saturday, Petraeus was at the U.S. Embassy saying that cooperation between civilian and military efforts in Afghanistan “is not optional.”