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Sources: Franks turns down Army's top job
From Jamie McIntyre
WASHINGTON (CNN) -- U.S. Central Command chief Gen. Tommy Franks -- credited for coming up with winning military strategies in Iraq and Afghanistan -- has turned down an offer to be Army chief of staff, the highest job in the service, officials told CNN on Monday. Sources said Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld informally offered the job to Franks after his first choice, Gen. John Keane, the current vice chief of staff, bowed out. The term of the current Army chief of staff, Gen. Eric K. Shinseki, ends in June, and Rumsfeld is expected to recommend a successor soon, sources said. Technically, President Bush nominates the members of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, who are then confirmed by the Senate, but Rumsfeld's private recommendations are said the be the determining factor in who gets picked. Last week, Franks sidestepped a question about his plans, saying: "The secretary and I have talked about the future. And that's, I think, probably the best I can do right now." It is not clear why Franks turned down the prestigious assignment as a member of the Joint Chiefs Staff. Although many senior officers are anxious to make more money in the private sector after a lifetime of military pay, sources insist Frank's decision is less about money and more about a lack of enthusiasm for the internecine battles in the Pentagon bureaucracy. "This is a man, a combatant commander who has won two wars. He's not really excited about a desk job," one official said. Sources said Rumsfeld might turn to one of Franks' deputies to lead the Army, Lt. Gen. John Abizaid, who speaks Arabic and was picked by Rumsfeld to work with Franks before the war. Officials close to Rumsfeld said he has been unhappy with the pace of transformation in the Army, and just a few weeks ago fired the civilian in charge, Army Secretary Thomas White. Publicly, the Pentagon announced that White had resigned, and Rumsfeld praised his service. But Rumsfeld quickly moved to give the job to Air Force Secretary Jim Roche, a trusted friend who shares Rumsfeld vision for the military and is known for a sharp intellect and a penchant for "shaking things up," in the words of one official. Sources said Rumsfeld is also unhappy with Shinseki, who drew the Pentagon's ire before the Iraq war by suggesting it would likely take several hundred thousand U.S. troops to secure the peace.
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