The top U.S. military commander in the Middle East, Army General John Abizaid, plans to retire early next year.
John Abizaid, who speaks Arabic and was chosen by Rumsfeld to work with Franks before the war.
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John Abizaid as the head of U.S. Central Command, which oversees U.S. military operations across the Middle East.
Instead, he dismissed General Abizaid and reshuffled key figures in his Iraq team.
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The fact that he is - Rumsfeld is now gone, I think, was part of the reason Abizaid decided to step down.
We're seeing a shift in the top military commanders - Generals Casey and Abizaid are going to be moving on.
John Abizaid, commander of the U.S. Central Command in Iraq and Paul Bremer, the top U.S. civilian administrator in Iraq.
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John Abizaid, the top military commander in the Middle East, made exactly that argument in testimony before Congress last month.
And many military types, from General John Abizaid down, are sceptical about whether more troops would really solve the problem.
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Abizaid recommended giving the current Air Force commander more authority, strengthening the chain of command and providing more regular oversight.
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And so as he's done that, he's really gotten rid of the two generals, Abizaid and Casey, which were advocating the old policy.
There is the Abizaid school, frankly, which as you mentioned, is largely looking to gradually draw down, hand things over quickly to the Iraqi security forces.
He met with General John Abizaid, who heads the US Central Command, and with General George Casey, the commander of US forces in Iraq.
Abizaid's panel considered and rejected a large-scale reorganization of the mortuary that would have put the Army medical examiners and Air Force morticians under a single commander.
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John Abizaid, commander of the U.S. Central Command, and Gen.
Lieutenant General JOHN ABIZAID (Commander, US Central Command): In terms of foreign fighters, I believe there are more foreign fighters coming into Iraq than there were six months ago.
But, you know, you have a lot of former retired army guys who in the past have really backed Abizaid's plan who are starting to switch over and say, you know what?
Abizaid has warned that a troop surge might placate targeted areas in the short run but could leave U.S. forces over-extended and less capable in the summer months that would follow.
That statement seemed to reflect sentiments expressed by General John Abizaid, the top U.S. Army commander in the Middle East, who had announced overnight his voluntary retirement from that command in March.
General John Abizaid, America's military chief in the region, said there was intelligence linking the attacks to Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, a fugitive extremist suspected of working for Osama bin Laden's terror network.
Commanders in the field like the top officers in Central Command and Iraq, Generals John Abizaid and George Casey, respectively, have consistently argued in public against further expanding the American footprint in the theater.
But also, you know, everything going on with the Iraqi Study Group, with the Bush administration reconsidering its plans, you know, Abizaid sort of saw the writing on the wall that the Bush administration was considering a new plan.
The leaders, Generals George Casey and John Abizaid, have been what you might call devotees of the light footprint school, which was we should have relatively few troops, hand authority over the Iraqis as quickly as possible.
Abizaid, that U.S. troops were an "antibody" to Iraqi culture, the Americans consolidated their forces on large "forward operating bases, " maintaining a presence only by means of motorized patrols that were particularly vulnerable to attacks by improvised explosive devices.
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