Washington, Oct 16 : The new head of the US Central Command has launched a major reassessment of American strategy for Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iran, Iraq and the surrounding region.

General David H. Petraeus also warned about the lack of development and the spiraling violence in Afghanistan will likely make it “the longest campaign of the long war.”

Washington, Oct. 7 : John McCain, it seems, has another running mate -- General David H. Petraeus, the former commander of American forces in Iraq and now the CENTCOM chief.

Though officially, Alaska Governor Sarah Palin is McCain’s running mate, but she didn''t get a mention once during McCain’s first debate with Barack Obama.

He, however, named General Petraeus seven times, and has since been invoking the former Iraq commander in speeches around the country -- in Ohio and Pennsylvania, Virginia and Florida, reports the Washington Post.

According to the paper, McCain has even been carrying around a biography of the general and told Palin that Petraeus is "a great American hero."