Newly promoted General John P. Abizaid expresses his thanks to outgoing Commander of United States Central Command General Tommy R. Franks during a private ceremony held in Tampa, Florida. General Abizaid assumed command of The United States Central Command in ceremonies held later in the day. Monday July 7, 2003 - (Central Command photo by Gary P. Bonaccorso) (click here)
...General Abizaid. That's right, the fellow that followed Franks in Iraq. He must be Republican.
..."I've read repeatedly dozens of times that I announced (former Army Chief of Staff) General (Eric) Shinseki's replacement a year-and-a-half in advance," the secretary noted, adding, "That's just false. It's been repeated 50 times. I can't imagine why responsible journalists do it."...(click here)
General Abizaid Smacks Down McCain’s Plan To Send More U.S. Troops To Iraq (click here)
Today at a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing, CentCom commander Gen. John Abizaid rejected McCain’s calls for increased U.S. troop levels in Iraq, saying that he “met with every divisional commander, Gen. Casey, the core commander, Gen. Dempsey” and asked them if bringing “in more American troops now, [would] add considerably to our ability to achieve success in Iraq and they all said ‘no.’” Watch it: (video)...
Today at a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing, CentCom commander Gen. John Abizaid rejected McCain’s calls for increased U.S. troop levels in Iraq, saying that he “met with every divisional commander, Gen. Casey, the core commander, Gen. Dempsey” and asked them if bringing “in more American troops now, [would] add considerably to our ability to achieve success in Iraq and they all said ‘no.’” Watch it: (video)...
That explains this generals retirement and there is this 'thing' the Bush White House is always trying to 'pin on' others. I clearly remember at the very beginnings of the war, commanders under Blair and Bush stated clearly they were under orders to disband the Iraqi military. I remember Bush even stating he wanted to rid Iraq of all their former government and military. So, I don't know why Bush continues to play this game of 'dodge ball' with the responsibility of disbanding the Iraqi military. He was he that wanted it done and it resulted in an insurgency. Just that simple. I remember it very clearly actually.
UPDATED: Questions linger on Iraq army's disbanding (click here)
Web Posted: 09/06/2007 11:49 PM CDT
Sig ChristensonExpress-News Military Writer
It remains one of the biggest questions of the Iraq war: Who decided to disband the Iraqi army?
A book out this week, more than four years after the decision helped spark the Iraqi insurgency, offers an answer that has spawned a controversy of its own. President Bush, the book says, claims to have been unaware of the order.
The White House doesn't take issue with "Dead Certain," but the former administrator of Iraq, L. Paul Bremer, and his military counterpart at the time, retired Army Lt. Gen. Ricardo Sanchez, say Bush is evading responsibility for one of the war's biggest blunders.
"I think there's some distancing that's going on," Sanchez, who led coalition troops in the first year of the occupation, told the San Antonio Express-News. "In very broad terms, there's an effort on the part of politicians to distance themselves from the decisions that created strategic vulnerabilities for the country."
"I think there's some distancing that's going on," Sanchez, who led coalition troops in the first year of the occupation, told the San Antonio Express-News. "In very broad terms, there's an effort on the part of politicians to distance themselves from the decisions that created strategic vulnerabilities for the country."
The book by former Texas Monthly writer Robert Draper says that Bush thought the Iraqi army would be retained until after Bremer announced it had been disbanded. Draper quoted Bush as saying, "Yeah, I can't remember. I'm sure I said, 'This is the policy, what happened?'"
In an interview with the Express-News, Draper said, "I was astonished that he was unable to remember how he felt about so consequential a policy being reversed. You'd think that would be a memorable moment. Apparently it was not."...
