In a commentary piece, Peter Bergen, CNN's national security analyst, recounts the challenges Gen. David Petraeus faced in Iraq and takes a look at whether he can accomplish the mission in Afghanistan.

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Gen. David Petraeus told CNN on Thursday that he supports President Barack Obama's July 2011 deadline to start withdrawing U.S. troops from Afghanistan, a key point of contention between the president and many of his Republican critics in Congress.

Petraeus - tapped to replace Gen. Stanley McChrystal as the U.S. commander in Afghanistan - expressed his respect and appreciation for McChrystal's work and said the circumstances surrounding the change in command are "sad."

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Kabul, Afghanistan - Twenty-one people at a girls' school in northern Afghanistan fell sick on Wednesday and authorities there suspect they were poisoned. FULL POST

June has now become the deadliest month of the Afghan war for coalition troops, a grave milestone in the nearly nine-year-old conflict. FULL POST