Obama Assigns Panetta, Petraeus To Top Security Positions

UPDATE (4:01pm) President Barack Obama has officially announced the rearrangement of his administration’s national security team.

CIA Director Leon Panetta will step in at the Pentagon this July as the next Secretary of Defense, and in September, General David Petraeus, currently tasked with commanding U.S. forces in Afghanistan, will assume the top spot the intelligence agency. In turn, Lt. General John Allen, the Deputy Commander at CENTCOM, will take the command in Afghanistan from Petraeus.

In addition, the President named diplomat Ryan Crocker as the next U.S. ambassador to Afghanistan.

“These are the leaders that I have chosen to help guide us through the difficult days ahead,” Obama, flanked by key members of his security team, said during remarks in the White House’s East Wing. “I will look to them … for their counsel, continuity and unity of effort that this moment in history demands.”

Obama urged the Senate to confirm the new appointees “as swiftly as possible.”

WASHINGTON- The White House confirmed Wednesday that President Obama will tap CIA Director Leon Panetta as the next Defense Secretary and put current Afghan Commander General David Petraeus in the intelligence agency’s top spot.

According to a senior administration official, Panetta should be in the Pentagon by July 1st and Petraeus will join the CIA in early September, presuming Senate confirmations go smoothly. Michael Morrell, the CIA’s number two man, will serve as interim director.

Once Petraeus receives Senate approval, he will retire from military service, the official said. Lt. General John Allen will take over U.S. command in Afghanistan.

In addition, the official said that the White House will appoint diplomat Ryan Crocker as ambassador to Afghanistan and will seek confirmation for the former Ambassador to Iraq as soon as possible.

Although the transition is taking place against an evolving national security backdrop, the official stressed that the current strategy in Afghanistan will continue to be implemented, as will Defense Secretary Robert Gates’ mission to trim excess at the Pentagon.

President Obama is expected to make the official announcement tomorrow.