WASHINGTON, Nov. 22 (UPI) -- Gen. John Abizaid, the retired head of U.S. Central Command, was named Monday to head an investigation into the mishandling of soldiers' body parts.
Defense Secretary Leon Panetta appointed Abizaid to replace Richard Carmona, a former U.S. surgeon general, The Washington Post reported. Carmona was named to lead the investigation last week and then resigned three days later, announcing he was running for the Democratic nomination for U.S. senator from Arizona.
The military has acknowledged the mortuary at Dover Air Force Base in Delaware mishandled the cremated ashes of body parts from U.S. soldiers killed in Afghanistan and Iraq, by turning them over to a contractor who dumped them in a Virginia landfill.
Procedures have been changed and the ashes of body parts are now buried at sea.
Abizaid rose to four-star general during his 34-year military career. He retired in 2007 after four years at Central Command, which was responsible for the military in both Afghanistan and Iraq.
