Tag Archives: must-formalise

A senior US general once criticised for saying it was “fun to shoot some people” has been picked to take over US Central Command, leading the military command running the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. General James Mattis, the current head of the US Joint Forces Command and who previously led troops in Iraq and Afghanistan, had widely been tipped as the next head of Central Command. President Barack Obama must formalise the nomination, which then goes to Congress for approval. Centcom, as it is known, oversees operations in a volatile swathe of the world that covers 20 countries and stretches from Egypt across the Middle East and into south and central Asia. Robert Gates, the defence secretary, praised the four-star general as “one of the military's most innovative and iconoclastic thinkers.” Mr Gates also dismissed concerns about his 2005 comments, saying Mattis had learned his lesson http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/northamerica/usa/7880617/General-who-s… added by: CarlosBobthe3rd