Rumsfeld finally has his own man at U.S. Central Command to supervise a war against Iraq

Washington Times ^ | 1/26/03 | Bill Gertz and Rowan Scarborough (Inside the Ring)

[Mr. Mojo]

Pentagon chatter says Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld finally has his own man at U.S. Central Command to supervise a war against Iraq: Army Lt. Gen. John P. Abizaid.

Officials said the hard-charging Mr. Rumsfeld was not always happy with the way Gen. Tommy Franks ran the war in Afghanistan. He has worried that Gen. Franks, chief of U.S. Central Command, will not be innovative enough in waging war against Iraq.

Now, however, Mr. Rumsfeld has plucked a general from the Joint Staff at the Pentagon and sent him to Central Command as Mr. Franks' deputy. In fact, Gen. Abizaid is already at CentCom's warfighting command center in Qatar getting ready to direct a war.

It was an odd move, given that CentCom already had a deputy commander, who is staying at its Tampa headquarters. But it does give Mr. Rumsfeld a deputy in the Gulf region whom he fully trusts.

A favorite of the defense secretary, Gen. Abizaid is a West Point graduate and career infantryman who speaks fluent Arabic, a skill that should help with Persian Gulf allies.

He also speaks German and Italian, a skill that helped when he commanded the 1st Infantry Division in Germany in 1999-2000.

Winning the countryside Amid the continued hunt for hard-core al Qaeda and Taliban, the U.S. military is slowly winning the war for the countryside in Afghanistan.

Among the many outreach programs is the "Adopt a Village" civil affairs initiative run out of Bagram air base north of Kabul.

American troops deliver clothes, food and school supplies, and meet local Afghans.

[OldFriend]

He's there because of his friendship with Papa Bush.

Glad Rummy prevailed. And the questions from the media.....how typical, focussing on the unimportant.

[Stultis]

Oh,pulleezze...

Whatever. I believe Rumsfeld. But don't take it up with me. Go tell Rummy that he's a liar, and has implicated his Deputy Chairman and Joint Chiefs Chairman (the later standing beside him at the time) in a blatant and direct lie.

Be sure and take your press badge!

[Stultis]

Ooops. "Deputy Chairman" should be "Deputy Secretary" (i.e. Wolfowitz).

[Steven W.]

thank you - I saw the same thing and, with the reposting of this $#@$ again, shows how much people just aren't paying attention.

[OldFriend]

My only point is that Rummy would not nor should he discredit the general at this time. I have no doubt that Rummy wanted the general out of the loop....so to speak.

[Stultis]

I have no doubt that Rummy wanted the general out of the loop....so to speak.

"No doubt?" Really? Are you psychic? Do you have a chip planted in Rummy's brain?

Please acquaint me with any credible evidentiary basis for hypothesizing (leaving alone concluding beyond doubt!) that the Secretary of Defense want his CENTCOM commander "out of the loop" in any sense for the coming conflict with Iraq.

I put it to you that your suggestion is doubtful and utterly gratuitous.

[OldFriend]

I read early on in the Afghanistan mission that Franks was not considered the best man for the job. He kept his job due to the fact that he was a close friend of the first President Bush.

Keep little bits of information at the ready and sooner or later, the picture becomes clear. AS I SEE IT!!!