“We're here so that Afghanistan does not once again become a sanctuary for transnational extremists the way it was when al-Qaeda planned the 9/11 attacks in the Kandahar area, conducted the initial training for the attackers in training camps in Afghanistan before they moved on to Germany and then to U.S. flight schools.”

American Army general and CIA director

David Howell Petraeus is a retired United States Army general and former CIA director. He served from 2011 to 2012 as the agency’s fourth director, after a 37-year military career. Before leading the CIA, Petraeus held several senior Army commands. He led U.S. and coalition forces in Iraq as commanding general of Multi-National Force, Iraq, then served as commander of U.S. Central Command and later as commander of the International Security Assistance Force and U.S. Forces, Afghanistan.