from The ASSOCIATED PRESS

PEORIA, Ill. (AP) — Retired Gen. Wayne Downing, one of President Bush’s key counterterrorism advisers after the Sept. 11 attacks, has died. He was 67.

The four’star general died early Wednesday at Proctor Hospital in Peoria, where he grew up.

Peoria County Coroner Johnna Inbagersoll said Downing was admitted to the hospital Monday, suffering from bacterial meningitis and multiple myeloma, a form of cancer.

The West Point graduate retired in 1996 after 34 years in the military, ending his career as head of all U.S. special operations forces. In that position, he commanded more than 47,000 soldiers, including the Army’s Green Berets and Navy’s SEALs.

Shortly after retiring, Downing led a 40-person presidential task force that investigated a 1996 attack that killed 19 Americans at Khobar Towers in Saudi Arabia, making recommendations on how to better protect Americans abroad.

During Operation Desert Storm in 1991, Downing commanded a joint task force of 1,200 U.S. special forces that halted Iraq’s SCUD missile attacks on Israel and eased overall missile threats in the war zone.

Downing, a military analyst for MSNBC, received the U.S. Military Academy’s distinguished graduate award in 2006.

“His reputation was that of a smart, decisive, forceful and caring leader, known in particular for his unwavering determination to accomplish any mission assigned and provide his soldiers the best possible support,” the academy wrote in bestowing the honor.

Downing had served as distinguished chair of the military’s academy’s Combatting Terrorism Center since 2003, and conducted leadership seminars as a visiting faculty member at the University of Michigan’s Ross School of Business.