Badalan had resisted Atanasiu's calls for a pullout from Iraq, while Atanasiu demanded the army chief be sacked because he was under investigation in connection with an army supply contract.
Badalan se opirao Atanasiuovim pozivima na povlačenje iz Iraka, dok je Atanasiu tražio njegovu ostavku zbog toga što se nalazi pod istragom zbog ugovora o vojnoj nabavi.