WASHINGTON (AP) — Lawmakers say Gen. David Petraeus is a shoe-in to achieve his latest objective -- confirmation as the replacement for Gen. Stanley McChrystal as Afghanistan commander.

Petraeus appears at a confirmation hearing today before the Senate Armed Services Committee. His mission is to convince a war-weary Congress that he's the man to turn around the war in Afghanistan and mend the military's tattered relations with civilian leaders.

McChrystal, was fired last week by President Barack Obama after he and his aides were quoted in a Rolling Stone magazine article disparaging the administration.

Petraeus will probably be confirmed as early as this week.

He's expected to continue McChrystal's strategy in large part because it is based on Petraeus' own ideas about beating an insurgency. That plan calls for more troops but limits on the use of firepower to win local support.