Leave your feedback Share Copy URL https://www.pbs.org/newshour/show/with-iraq-surge-behind-him-petraeus-takes-larger-command Email Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Pinterest Tumblr Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Transcript Twenty months after taking charge of a new troop surge in Iraq, Gen. David Petraeus passed on some hard-earned and still fragile security gains to his replacement, Gen. Ray Odierno, Tuesday. Specialists assess the challenges both generals now face in the region. Read the Full Transcript Notice: Transcripts are machine and human generated and lightly edited for accuracy. They may contain errors. JIM LEHRER: And, finally tonight, the change of command in Iraq, and to Jeffrey Brown. JEFFREY BROWN: With the top brass of the Pentagon in attendance, and with a warning that recent gains in Iraq are fragile, a new American commander took charge in Baghdad today.Gen. Ray Odierno fills the position that's been held by Gen. David Petraeus since early 2007.Petraeus, considered the face of the U.S. troop buildup, labeled the "surge," will take over the U.S. Central Command, where, among much else, he'll oversee the growing U.S. and NATO war against the resurgent Taliban in Afghanistan.For more on what the commanders face, we turn to Colin Kahl, a professor of international security at Georgetown University and a senior fellow at the Center for a New American Security.And Linda Robinson, the author of "Tell Me How This Ends: General David Petraeus and the Search for the Way Out of Iraq." She's the author in residence at the Johns Hopkins School for Advanced International Studies. Both have recently returned from trips to Iraq.And welcome to both of you.Colin Kahl, Gen. Odierno is an interesting character. He has a lot of experience in Iraq, but I gather, from all accounts, he's gone through quite a metamorphosis. Tell us about him.