WASHINGTON, Jan 5 (Reuters) - Defense Secretary Robert Gates recommended two new commanders to lead U.S. military efforts in Iraq, the Pentagon said on Friday, as President George W. Bush prepares a new strategy to win the war. Gates chose Army Lt. Gen. David Petraeus, one of the U.S. military's most highly regarded officers, as the top ground commander in Iraq, replacing Gen. George Casey, who would become U.S. Army chief of staff. He also selected Adm. William Fallon to replace Army Gen. John Abizaid, who is retiring as head of U.S. Central Command, the regional headquarters that oversees military operations in the Middle East, including Iraq and Afghanistan. In his next job, Casey would succeed Gen. Peter Schoomaker, who came out of retirement in 2003 to take his current post and has already served longer than the three years traditionally served by Army chiefs of staff. Gates made the recommendations to Bush after detailed discussions with the president, a Pentagon statement said. "As secretary of defense, and as a citizen, I firmly believe that Generals Petraeus and Casey and Admiral Fallon, as individuals and as a team, bring to the challenges that face us the qualities necessary to be successful in war and to protect the American people," Gates said.
