Word: centcom
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: all
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
...same time, U.S. officials have suddenly become far more vocal than before about their unhappiness with the Iraqi government of Nouri al-Maliki. The White House has been criticizing him in public, and both the Centcom boss, Admiral William Fallon, and Deputy Secretary of State John Negroponte made recent trips to Baghdad to tell al-Maliki he needs to quickly deliver some of the promised political deals on security and oil revenue with the various warring factions...
...unclear if this will actually force the Iraqis to change. One reason outgoing CENTCOM boss John Abizaid had long opposed additional troops was that he believed reinforcesments would only encourage Iraqis to sit on their hands and let the Americans do the dirty work of stabilizing the nation. Bush has not explained what incentive the Iraqis have to change now - other than his suggestion last night that they would "lose the support of the American people." Asked in a briefing at the White House Wednesday what would force the Iraqis to take these steps, a senior administration official told reporters...
...Somalia falls within the military's CENTCOM command area, and as a longtime Qaeda theater of operations has been a focus of U.S. military interest for years. Special Operations command has been active in the Horn of Africa with psychological operations and civil projects, such as building water wells and providing veterinary services, in several countries in the region for a number of years. The CENTCOM base in the tiny country of Djibouti - from which the gunship raid was staged - has become an important focus of regional counterterror efforts. Units based there have also played a central role in helping...
...pulling for one of their own: Lt. Gen. James Mattis, one of the military's most seasoned combat veterans (he led the complex but successful invasion into Afghanistan and then took the 1st Marine Division on the march to Baghdad). The Marines have not held a senior position in CENTCOM or Iraq since before the start of the war and many of them privately blame poor Army leadership for the war's failures...
...Petraeus - whom critics call "King David" for his often sophisticated self-promotion skills - will be in charge of day-to-day fighting in Iraq, while Fallon will oversee the entire Middle East and Southwest Asia, which are under CENTCOM's purview. The admiral will also be tasked with trying to convince Middle Eastern countries to lend the U.S. a hand in redeveloping Iraq's flagging economy...