U.S. Army Gen. David Petraeus officially handed over control of the Afghan war Monday to his successor, Marine Gen. John Allen. Petraeus, the architect of troop surges in Iraq and Afghanistan, leaves behind a still chaotic country beset by violence and political instability. The night before the handover, a prominent Afghan politician was killed by suicide bomber in a secure area in Kabul. A week earlier, the president’s half-brother, a major power broker in Kandahar, was shot to death in his own home. Most analysts expect Petraeus to continue to wield considerable influence in the Afghanistan/Pakistan theater is his new role as head of the CIA.