New US commander takes charge of Mideast forces
An Army general who oversaw the US withdrawal from Iraq assumed command in the Middle East Friday, succeeding an officer who had clashed with the White House over handling tensions with Iran. General Lloyd Austin, 59, who will oversee the pullout of US troops from Afghanistan in 2014, took the reins of the military's powerful Central Command in a ceremony in Tampa, Florida, succeeding General James Mattis, a blunt-speaking Marine who served in three wars. US officials acknowledge that Mattis, a four-star general, had disagreed with White House advisers over policy towards Iran, favoring a more robust approach to Tehran's controversial nuclear program. The friction with the White House prompted speculation that Mattis may have been forced to cut short the customary three-year tenure for the CENTCOM post by several months. But Pentagon officials denied there was any attempt to push him out early.
