Abizaid, Tueller pass Senate test to go to Riyadh, Baghdad


Issue 1079 - 26 Apr 2019 | 3 minute read

Head of the US Central Command (Centcom) during and after the 2003 war with Iraq, General John Abizaid was confirmed by the Senate as ambassador to Riyadh on 10 April, some six months after he was nominated by the White House. Such is Abizaid’s reputation that the 68-year-old retired four-star general was voted in by 92 senators to seven, with one abstention. Congress also supported Matthew Tueller’s appointment to Iraq – but only after he had a sometimes difficult passage through the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, not over his attitude towards Baghdad, but over Yemen, where he has been serving as US ambassador.

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