CARLISLE, Pa. (WHTM) — David Petraeus, the former CIA director and army general who orchestrated the 2003-04 Iraq War “surge,” said Henry Kissinger, who died Wednesday at the age of 100, continued impacting foreign policy thinking into his second century.

“He remained incredibly relevant,” said Petraeus, who called Kissinger a “mentor and a friend” and attended his 100th birthday party. Petraeus said Kissinger attended an event earlier this month related to Petraeus’s new book that to the extent the death of any centenarian can really be a surprise, this one was.

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“Frankly, this is a bit sudden,” Petraeus said. “He has been such a fixture, such an important contributor to the marketplace of ideas, helping to define them in so many ways, that it is a true loss in many different respects, and especially at a time when the country and the world face so many challenges.”

Leaders and experts around the world universally recognized the former secretary of state’s influence on former affairs. But whereas some credited him for helping to deliver peace and prosperity, others said he cooperated too closely with dictators with dismal human rights records.

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