President Barack Obama on Wednesday nominated career military officer Lieutenant General Karl Eikenberry to be his new ambassador to Afghanistan and made several other foreign-policy appointments, the White House announced. The announcement came as Obama awaits the results of his review of Afghanistan and Pakistan policy, which is expected to be completed by the time he travels to the NATO summit early next month. Eikenberry, who was previously Commander of the Combined Forces Command in Afghanistan, currently serves as deputy chairman of the NATO military committee in Brussels, Belgium. He is an expert on East Asia and once served as defense attaché at the U.S. embassy in Beijing. Obama also formally nominated career diplomat Christopher Hill to serve as U.S. ambassador to Iraq. He currently is assistant secretary of state for East Asian affairs and was most recently ambassador to South Korea and U.S. envoy for the six-country talks on North Korea's nuclear disarmament. Obama publicly announced Hill's nomination last month. The U.S. president named foreign policy author Ivo Daalder to serve as ambassador to NATO and career foreign-service officer Alexander Vershbow as assistant secretary of defense for international security affairs. Obama also named Richard Verma, formerly a foreign policy advisor to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, as assistant secretary for legislative affairs at the State Department.
