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Politics
Senate vote puts a new face on CentCom
By ASSOCIATED PRESS
Published February 8, 2007
WASHINGTON - The Senate confirmed a new military commander for troops in the Middle East on Wednesday, even as members questioned another senior officer's handling of the war. The approval of Navy Adm. William Fallon to replace Army Gen. John Abizaid as head of U.S. Central Command, on a voice vote in the Senate, was in contrast to widespread opposition to President Bush's plan to send 21,500 more troops to Iraq. Central Command is located at Tampa's MacDill Air Force Base. Fallon, 62, was commander of U.S. forces in the Pacific when Bush tapped him for the job. Fallon will take over as part of a personnel shift that Bush is making as he retools U.S. policy in Iraq. Abizaid is retiring. Fallon told a Senate panel in January that it was time to redefine the nation's goals in Iraq. "What we have been doing has not been working," he said. He did not say what might change under his command. While Fallon's approval was relatively easy for a Senate divided on how to win the war in Iraq, a vote expected Thursday on the nomination of Gen. George Casey as Army chief of staff was rousing some protest. Democrats opposed to the war defended Casey while Republicans said he should answer for mistakes. Casey led troops in Iraq for two years. The Senate had planned to vote on Casey's nomination on Wednesday but delayed it so more members could be present, said Joe Shoemaker, spokesman for Senate Majority Whip Richard Durbin, D-Ill.
[Last modified February 8, 2007, 00:30:53]
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