How ABC Landed This Week's David Petraeus Exclusive

The television networks have spent the last few weeks in pursuit of an interview with Gen. David H. Petraeus, the United States commander in Iraq, ahead of his testimony to Congress this week on progress in Iraq. So how did ABC land the exclusive story?

It could have been the same way the network got into North Korea and Cuba: the personal touch of David Westin, the president of ABC News.

For three days in late February, Mr. Westin visited the network's Baghdad bureau. There, in a meeting with General Petraeus, Mr. Westin made an informal pitch for the interview.

A former lawyer who has headed the news division for 10 years, Mr. Westin has traveled extensively to Asia, Latin America and the Middle East. "I always come back with a better understanding of the story," he said.

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