And by "influence" I mean arming and supporting Shia thugs inside Iraq:
The US military says it has found Iranian-made mortars, rockets and explosives in Iraq bearing recent date stamps, the Wall Street Journal reported on Friday.
While Petraeus is in charge of only Iraq operations, there is little he can do to stop Iranian influence. Fighting Iranians inside Iraq only gets you so far.
As CENTCOM commander responsible for the entire region, Petraeus will have more opportunities to do what he knows must be done to stop the Iranians from waging war on us inside Iraq with impunity.