Profile: General Tommy Franks

Media shy: Gen Franks, left, with Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld

United States Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld calls him a "wise and inspiring commander".

In the Iraq war General Tommy Franks saw off many of his critics, who had described him as leaden-footed and too conventional.

Observers commended General Franks for making dramatic use of US special operations forces in both Afghanistan and Iraq, and for preferring the tactic of speed of movement rather than amassing overwhelming force, a tactic which enabled Baghdad to be taken in only three weeks.

He has been praised by the Pentagon and the White House for maintaining efficient campaigns while keeping US and coalition casualties at a minimum.

General Franks took over as head of US Central Command more than two years ago - only days before Osama bin Laden's al-Qaeda network attacked the American warship USS Cole in a Yemeni harbour, killing 17 American sailors.

A 'muddy boots' soldier

Despite his high profile role General Franks eschews the limelight, as he indicated recently when he told a press conference about the first book he ever read.

"It was a book about Julius Caesar. I remember parts of it.

General Franks engineered the Afghanistan campaign

"The book said Julius Caesar was a general. He made long speeches. They killed him."

He admits that he is "no Norman Schwarzkopf" - a reference to his flamboyant predecessor who propelled the US to victory in the 1991 Gulf War and whose media briefings became famous.

Although he holds degrees in Business and Public Administration, General Franks is a "muddy boots soldier" who prefers the company of his fellow officers and men to talk-show hosts.

Changing face of warfare

But in modern warfare, a general not only has to fight, but talk a good fight as well.

Gone are the days when a commander could disappear onto the field of battle and not re-emerge until he had won.

The Afghanistan campaign was unlike any other.

It was part orthodox military operation, part criminal investigation, part humanitarian relief, part counter-terrorist operation.

It needed a commander who was capable of thinking in an extremely unconventional manner with highly attuned political antenna.

Firepower first

Nonetheless General Franks ran a fairly conventional campaign. He used his air power to "soften up" the enemy - cutting off the Taleban's air defences, then their rear area supplies and finally concentrating on the front-line troops.

Rumsfeld backed the general in a recent investigation

"The pace of events was extraordinarily rapid, and from time to time the military didn't really keep up," says Tom Donnelly, of the influential conservative think-tank the American Enterprise Institute.

"It was mostly a case not of reacting to setbacks, but of not being able to exploit the successes that came faster than we thought."

But victory was eventually proclaimed in Afghanistan and the general then found himself preparing for the much more challenging prospect of an invasion in Iraq, another invasion that ultimately led to success.

He was even at one point touted to take over as interim military leader in post-Saddam Iraq.

Wife claims

Despite differences with US Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld over tactics in Afghanistan, the two men were jovial at press conferences and Mr Rumsfeld had reiterated several times his support and backing for the commander.

This was despite recent claims that General Franks was being investigated by the Pentagon for abuses of office involving his wife, Cathy, claims for which he was eventually cleared.

He was alleged to have allowed her to be present during the discussion of highly classified material and to have failed to have properly reimbursed the US government for her travel on military aircraft.

General Franks agreed to improve security awareness after the investigation said he had inadvertently allowed his wife to hear classified information while flying aboard his aircraft, Reuters news agency reported.

Mr Rumsfeld had taken the unusual step of reasserting his support for General Franks before the investigation was completed.

"Without commenting on the merits of the investigation, which is not yet before me, I want to emphasise that General Franks has my full trust, respect and confidence," he said at the time.