[Ciexyz]

Gen. Abizaid sounds like a commendable choice for the position.

[RiverDrifter]

This from GuruNet:

Abizaid has trained as a paratrooper and an Army Ranger; serving in the 82nd Airborne Division and the First Armored Division, and he has extensive background in military operations, particularly in areas of civilian Muslim populations. He served with military operations in northern Iraq in the 1990s. Abizaid, a three-star senior general, was previously director of the Joint Staff, an organization serving the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

[RiverDrifter]

This also from GuruNet

Army Lt. Gen. John Abizaid is second deputy commander of the US Central Command, making him the highest ranking Arab-American in the US military. Born in the United States to a Lebanese-American family, Abizaid speaks fluent Arabic. He is a graduate of the U.S. Military Academy at West Point as well as the Armed Forces Staff College and Stanford University, and he also attended the University of Amman in Jordan.