In recent speeches, President George W. Bush has called the four-star general his "main man" and asked critics of the war to wait until September, when Petraeus is scheduled to assess the situation in Iraq. The president is closer to the general than to Petraeus' three predecessors in command of coalition forces in Iraq.

"The danger is that Petraeus will now be painted as failing to live up to expectations and become the fall guy for the administration," a retired four-star general told the Post.

Petraeus, who was unanimously confirmed by the Senate in February, has already attracted some criticism from outside the administration. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., said last month Petraeus "isn't in touch with what's going on in Baghdad."

Lawrence Korb, a former Pentagon official, said the administration has a history of blaming military commanders, going back to the run-up to the war. Gen. Eric Shinseki was criticized when he told Congress before the march 2003 invasion that the administration was not sending enough troops to Iraq.

"This is an administration that wants to blame the generals," said Korb.