President Barack Obama on Wednesday named a career military officer who once was the top U.S. commander in Afghanistan to be the next ambassador to the war-torn country and tapped a veteran diplomat to be the new American envoy in Iraq.

The White House said Obama had nominated Lt. Gen. Karl W. Eikenberry, who served in Afghanistan twice, including an 18-month tour that ended in 2007, to be ambassador in Kabul, and Christopher Hill, a seasoned negotiator who led the U.S. team at nuclear disarmament talks during the Bush administration, to be ambassador in Baghdad.

He also named:

• Ivo Daalder, a former Clinton administration National Security Council official, to be ambassador to NATO.

• Alexander Vershbow, a former ambassador to Russia and South Korea, to be assistant secretary of defense for international security.

• Richard Verma, a lawyer and former Senate aide, to head the State Department''s legal team.

"These extraordinarily accomplished individuals have served their country with great distinction, and they have each agreed to take on tough assignments," Obama said in a statement. "I am confident that they will work with a sense of purpose and pragmatism ... as we renew American diplomacy, strengthen our military, and advance our values and interests around the world."