Marine Gen. James Mattis nominated to head Central Command
Reporting from Camp Pendleton — Marine Gen. James Mattis, who led Camp Pendleton Marines into combat in Afghanistan in 2001 and Iraq in 2003, has been nominated to become commander of U.S. Central Command, the Pentagon said Thursday.
If confirmed by the Senate, Mattis will succeed Army Gen. David Petraeus, who now commands U.S. and NATO forces in Afghanistan. The nomination of Mattis was made by Defense Secretary Robert Gates.
Gates said that Mattis had “proven to be one of the military’s most innovative and iconoclastic thinkers. His insights into the nature of warfare in the 21st century have influenced my own views.”
Mattis would have responsibility for U.S. military operations from Pakistan to Egypt and Oman to Kazakhstan. He would be the combatant commander for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. His most recent post has been as commander of Joint Forces Command in Norfolk, Va.
At Camp Pendleton, he was the convening authority that brought charges against Marines accused of killing civilians in Iraq. He also ordered detention procedures to be rewritten to ensure humane treatment of prisoners in Iraq.
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