VICTOR DAVIS HANSON: “Some of us had hoped three weeks ago that a leader like General Mattis might become Centcom commander. The recent announcement that Secretary Gates, wisely, has just done that could not come at a better time. Mattis is a proven battlefield commander, a sophisticated student of history, and unshakeable in his nerve and purpose. We now have, with General Petraeus as ground commander, our two most gifted senior combat generals in charge of Afghanistan, who have worked well together and who were brilliant in Iraq in its darkest hours.”