Trump appointed John Abizaid as U.S Ambassador to Saudi Arabia

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After more than 2-years of taking office, the U.S President Donald Trump has finally nominated a U.S Ambassador to Saudi Arabia. The president has nominated retired 4-star Army General John Abizaid to the post at a critical time in diplomatic relations between the United States and Saudi Arabia, following the controversy over the killing of Washington Post journalist Jamal Khashoggi in the Saudi embassy in Istanbul. Abizaid should need to be confirmed by the U.S Senate before taking up his post.

Donald Trump, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, and others in the administration have placed the allegation for leaving the major diplomatic post vacant on Senate Democrats. Moreover, the president had not nominated anyone for the job until now, in spite of making a state visit to Saudi Arabia last year and touting the ties between Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and White House advisor Jared Kushner.

Abizaid is a Lebanese American and he is best known for leading U.S Central Command from July 2003 to March 2007. He also oversees operations in the Middle East, the Horn of Africa and Central Asia. He had opposed a troop surge in Iraq during his time at the helm, instead needed U.S troops to focus on training Iraqis. They came under the command of then-General David Petraeus and Abizaid retired later that year at the time when then-President George W Bush disagreed and sent 30,000 additional troops in 2007. He is currently a scholar at the Hoover Institute at Stanford University and holds a Masters in Middle Eastern Studies from Harvard University. The nomination of Abizaid points to the president’s emphasis on U.S-Saudi military cooperation.