IRAQ: White House shakes up military command structure in Iraq

Record ID: 575240

  • Title: IRAQ: White House shakes up military command structure in Iraq
  • Date: 6th January 2007
  • Summary: (BN17) WASHINGTON D.C., UNITED STATES (JANUARY 5, 2007) (U.S. POOL ACCESS ALL) WHITE HOUSE SPOKESMAN TONY SNOW WALKING TO PODIUM REPORTERS (SOUNDBITE) (English) TONY SNOW, WHITE HOUSE SPOKESMAN, SAYING: "In addition, the Pentagon, within the hour, has announced recommendations by Defense Secretary Gates to elevate General George Casey to become Army Chief of Staff; General George Petraeus to be head of the Multi-National Forces in Iraq; Admiral William Fallon to assume command of Central Command; and announced the retirement of General John Abizaid. Now, the President has accepted these recommendations and will be forwarding the nominations. And he's pleased to do so." REPORTER (SOUNDBITE) (English) TONY SNOW, WHITE HOUSE SPOKESMAN, SAYING: "What you do have is a situation as you develop a new way forward you had a situation where a couple of guys whose billets were gonna come up within a period of time. The answer is once you start on a new way forward do you change then or do you change now? And it makes sense that you are going to have your command team that is going to be in place as you are working on this new way forward and enacting it and I think he has found very able and capable individuals Secretary Gates and the President are very happy with the people they are going to be proposing." REPORTER SNOW AT PODIUM
  • Embargoed: 21st January 2007 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Iraq
  • Country: Iraq
  • Topics: Domestic Politics
  • Reuters ID: LVA75ORTGNSCO4X5BTWS806Z44HZ
  • Story Text: President George W. Bush chose two new commanders on Friday (January 5) to lead U.S. military efforts in Iraq as he prepares to revamp his war strategy.
    Bush picked Army Lt. Gen. David Petraeus, highly regarded within the military, as the top commander in Iraq, replacing Gen. George Casey, who would become U.S. Army chief of staff.
    He also selected Adm. William Fallon to replace Army Gen. John Abizaid, who is retiring as head of U.S. Central Command, the regional headquarters that oversees military operations in the Middle East, including Iraq and Afghanistan.
    Bush made the nominations, which require confirmation by the Senate, on the recommendation of Defense Secretary Robert Gates. Senate confirmations of military appointments are normally routine.
    White House spokesman Tony Snow said: "The president has accepted these recommendations and will be forwarding these nominations."
  • Copyright Holder: POOL (CAN SELL)
  • Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2011. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
  • Usage Terms/Restrictions: None
Register