But my Arabic is pretty good. It's good enough to have conversations with people, to understand what they say, to understand what they're feeling.

He was raised Catholic. Abizaid succeeded General Tommy Franks as Commander USCENTCOM on July 7 2003 and was also elevated to the rank of four-star general the same week. On March 16 2007 Abizaid transferred command to Admiral William J.

Fallon on March 16 2007. Abizaid retired from the military on May 1 2007 after 34 years of service. He assumed the DistinguiJohn Abizaidd Chair of the Combating Terrorism Center at West Point in December 2007.