Top US Commander In Middle East To Retire Soon...

He's going to retire to think of a job well done.

Washington Post Anne Scott Tyson December 20, 2006 03:03 PM

Army Gen. John P. Abizaid, the top U.S. Middle East commander and a chief architect of U.S. strategy in Iraq since the war began, will leave his post early next year, according to a statement by his command released this morning.

Abizaid, head of U.S. Central Command, which oversees the U.S. military in the Middle East, Central Asia and the Horn of Africa, was asked last spring by then-Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld to stay in his job until early 2007, and "he does not intend to extend beyond that period," the statement said.

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