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Abizaid heading to Stanford think tank

PALO ALTO, Calif. — Gen. John Abizaid, who spent three years as the top commander of U.S. forces in the Middle East, will start his retirement as a fellow at Stanford University’s Hoover Institution.

Abizaid has been named the first Annenberg Distinguished Visiting Fellow at the think tank, which is dedicated to research in domestic policy and international affairs. Starting June 1, Hoover plans to tap him for several projects emphasizing national security and foreign policy, officials said.

Associates of the general have also said he is strongly considering writing a book.

The move marks a return to the institution for Abizaid, who spent 1992 and 1993 as a Hoover Institution national security fellow.

“His knowledge and experience in the national security arena are incredible, and we look forward to engaging him in a number of important Hoover projects over the course of the coming year,” said Hoover Director John Raisian.

Earlier this year, Abizaid stepped down as top commander overseeing U.S. Central Command, the 27-nation military theater that includes Iraq and Afghanistan.

He was born in Coleville, Calif. After graduating from West Point in 1973, he studied Arabic at the University of Jordan in Amman and eventually became the U.S. military’s senior Middle East expert.

In the months leading up to the March 2003 Iraq invasion, Abizaid tried to impress upon the Bush administration that it must focus on post-war Iraq, including establishing a government that represented all Iraqi ethnicities.

He told Congress in November — before President Bush announced plans for a troop “surge” in Iraq — that the Army and Marine Corps were not big enough to sustain substantial increases there. He said adding 20,000 troops for a short period was possible.

The new fellow position was financed by a grant from the Walter and Leonore Annenberg Fund.