(recasts, adds details) By Jim Wolf WASHINGTON, Dec 20 (Reuters) - U.S. Army Gen. John Abizaid, who commands U.S. forces in Iraq and Afghanistan as head of the Central Command, plans to retire early next year, his command said on Wednesday. The departure of Abizaid, 55, who has served in his post since July 2003, longer than any previous commander, could set the stage for strategic changes under review by President George W. Bush. Abizaid has opposed calls for sending more troops to Iraq as part of a temporary spike to combat growing communal violence. Bush, at a White House news conference, said the United States would succeed in Iraq after changing "our strategy and tactics to meet the realities on the ground." This spring, Donald Rumsfeld -- replaced this week as defense secretary by Robert Gates -- had asked Abizaid to stay in his job until early in 2007, the command said in a statement. "He does not intend to extend beyond that point," said Air Force Capt. Gary Arasin, a command spokesman. Bush acknowledged on Tuesday for the first time that the United States was not winning the war in Iraq. Adopting a formula used by his military commanders, he told the Washington Post: "We're not winning, we're not losing." At a news conference in Baghdad alongside the visiting Gates and Gen. Peter Pace, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Abizaid was asked whether his retirement was "totally" his decision. "No decision that anybody in a position like this is totally their decision," he replied, "But I think the time is right and it has nothing to do with dissatisfaction." According to the Los Angeles Times, the first to report the retirement plans, Abizaid will leave his post in March, a date that Arasin could not immediately confirm. GUERRILLA WAR Abizaid, of Lebanese descent and a fluent Arabic speaker, earned a master's degree in Middle East studies from Harvard University and studied at the University of Jordan in Amman. He succeeded Army Gen. Tommy Franks just four months after the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq after having served as Franks' deputy. Franks was a gruff Texan known more for bluntness than an academic's understanding of the region. Abizaid was the first four-star general to describe Iraq as a kind of guerrilla war at a time that the White House and Rumsfeld were dismissing any such description. Abizaid is responsible for about 250,000 troops in the 25-nation Central Command region stretching from the Horn of Africa to Central Asia, spanning much of the Middle East. In March, he had agreed to stay on at Rumsfeld's request, a month after the bombing of an important Shi'ite Muslim mosque spurred sectarian fighting and raised fears of an all-out civil war in a country deeply split among its Shi'ite, Sunni Arab and Kurdish populations. Iraq and Afghanistan achieved political milestones and U.S. forces captured Iraqi President Saddam Hussein during Abizaid's command. But Iraq remained mired in violence and Afghanistan became the largest heroin-producing and trafficking country. U.S. operations in both countries were also marred by disclosure of detainee abuses, while al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden and other high-profile fugitives remain at large.
