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Perfumed Prince to replace General Casey
United States President George Bush is embarking on a sweeping overhaul of the US diplomatic and military leadership in Iraq as he puts the finishing touches on a retooled war-fighting strategy.Bush, expected to unveil his new plan for Iraq in a speech as early as Wednesday, also filled a critical diplomatic vacancy in Washington and named a new US spy chief. The reshuffle -- begun when Bush dumped defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld late last year -- came on Friday as Democrats who now control the US Congress warned against sending more US troops to Iraq and demanded an end to the war. The Republican president moved to replace the head of the US Central Command that oversees the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, as well as the commander of the US-led forces in Iraq, and pushed ahead with plans to make the US ambassador there, Zalmay Khalilzad, the new US envoy to the United Nations. Replacing Khalilzad in Baghdad, officials said, would be Ryan Crocker (57), the US ambassador in Pakistan since November 2004. Crocker is one of the State Department's most experienced Middle East experts and a fluent Arabic speaker. Admiral William Fallon (62), currently head of US forces in the Pacific, would replace retiring General John Abizaid at the Central Command, which manages the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. Fallon was a navy combat pilot during the Vietnam War, commanded an attack squadron during the first Gulf War in 1991 and was involved in Nato's Operation Deliberate Force in Bosnia. In Iraq, Lieutenant General ( Posted by: Besoeker 2007-01-06 |
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