[Congressional Record Volume 153, Number 48 (Tuesday, March 20, 2007)]
[Senate]
[Pages S3340-S3341]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                   RETIREMENT OF GENERAL JOHN ABIZAID

  Mr. REID. Mr. President, last Friday GEN John Abizaid handed over the 
job of Commander of the U.S. Central Command to ADM William J. Fallon 
and officially entered retired life, a civilian citizen for the first 
time in more than 30 years.
  General Abizaid entered the U.S. Army as a second lieutenant after 
graduating from West Point in 1973. General Abizaid is among the elite 
of the Army's infantry commanders--an Airborne Ranger. Over his time in 
the military, he led paratroopers in several key units of the 82nd 
Airborne Division, including the 504th Parachute Infantry Regiment and 
the 325th Airborne. In command of a Ranger Rifle Company, he was one of 
the first commanders on the ground during the invasion of Grenada. He 
deployed to Kurdistan during the first gulf crisis, was Commandant of 
West Point, Division Commander of the Big Red One, Deputy Commander of 
Central Command during Operation Iraqi Freedom, and took over as 
Commander of Central Command in 2003.
  What most has distinguished General Abizaid is his combined ability 
as both a warrior and as one of our Nation's great strategic thinkers 
regarding the Middle East. He knows and understands the Middle East and 
its strategic implications for American security. As a young officer, 
John Abizaid

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learned fluent Arabic, served as an Olmsted Scholar in Jordan, served 
with the United Nations Observer Group Lebanon, and conducted strategic 
research at Harvard and Stanford Universities. In his generation, there 
were few officers with this combined set of skills and experiences, and 
he served as a role model to those who now protect America's interests 
and fight for security in the Middle East. In the next generation of 
officers in the years to come, we will need hundreds, if not thousands, 
more like him.
  I am especially pleased that General Abizaid has chosen to return to 
near where he grew up by making his new civilian residence in my great 
State of Nevada. General Abizaid has said that after retirement he 
would like to continue to examine how best to reform the national 
security apparatus of our Government to better address the ``long war'' 
that he believes we are fighting against violent extremism, to empower 
moderates in the region, and to rebuild the power, influence and 
security of the United States. He has said he may even write a book on 
these subjects, and I would hope he would do so. He has served the 
Nation ably and honorably over the last several decades, and while I 
wish him his fair share of peace, quiet, rest and relaxation not far 
from the shores of Lake Tahoe, I believe he has years of additional 
service to the Nation ahead of him. We owe General Abizaid our thanks 
and our deep gratitude, and I look forward to working with him in his 
new chapter.

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