Command of WMD Hunt Changes in Military Move
The military officer running the hunt for weapons of mass destruction in Iraq has been replaced in what officials described as a routine rotation.
Brig. Gen. Joseph J. McMenamin, a Marine, took over as director of the Iraq Survey Group on June 12. He replaced Maj. Gen. Keith Dayton, who moved to a Pentagon job in the Army’s hierarchy, according to the Pentagon.
McMenamin runs day-to-day operations and reports to Charles Duelfer, who has the title of special advisor and sets strategy for the weapons hunt. Duelfer reports to CIA Director George J. Tenet, who is leaving his post this month.
The dozens of teams on the Iraq Survey Group have been conducting a largely fruitless hunt for evidence of Saddam Hussein’s chemical, biological and nuclear weapons programs. Those alleged programs served as the Bush administration’s chief stated reason for going to war.
The survey group combines personnel from the CIA, Defense Intelligence Agency, military special operations forces and others.
A report from the Iraq Survey Group is expected in August.
Dayton becomes director of strategy, plans and policy under the deputy chief of staff for operations at Army headquarters.
McMenamin, who was commissioned in 1974, previously headed the Marine Corps basic training center at Parris Island, S.C.
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