Isn't this neat, we have a new "War Czar"

[Caleb]

Bush names Pentagon General 'war czar'
By BEN FELLER, Associated Press Writer

WASHINGTON -
President Bush on Tuesday chose Lt. Gen. Douglas Lute, the Pentagon's director of operations and a former leader of U.S. military forces in the Middle East, to oversee the fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan as a war czar.

"General Lute is a tremendously accomplished military leader who understands war and government and knows how to get things done," Bush said, capping a difficult search for new leadership in the wars that have defined his presidency.

It was a difficult job to fill, given the unpopularity of the war, now in its fifth year, and uncertainty about the clout the war coordinator would have. The search was complicated by demands from Congress to bring U.S. troops home from Iraq and scant public support for the war. The White House tried for weeks to fill the position and approached numerous candidates before settling on Lute.

In the newly created position, Lute would serve as an assistant to the president and deputy national security adviser, and would also maintain his military status and rank as a three-star general.

The White House has avoided the term "war czar." Bush called Lute the "full-time manager" for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Lute has been director of operations for the Joint Chiefs of Staff since September. Before that, he served for more than two years as director of operations at U.S. Central Command, during which he oversaw combat operations in Iraq and Afghanistan.

"He has already earned the respect and trust of the officials with whom he will be working in his new role," Bush said.

The new job comes as administration tries to use a combat troop buildup in Iraq to allow security and political reconciliation to take hold.

The White House has sought a war coordinator to eliminate conflicts among the Pentagon, the State Department and other agencies. Lute will seek to cut through bureaucracy and deliver fast responses when requests come in from U.S. military commanders and ambassadors.

His addition will help
Stephen Hadley, Bush's national security adviser, who monitors hot spots around the world.

Bush's move is part of a lengthy reshuffling of war leaders. Yet critics have questioned whether a new coordinator will help so late in the Bush presidency or will instead add confusion in the chain of command.

Lute's appointment is subject to Senate confirmation.

Until now, Hadley and other West Wing officials have tried to keep turf-conscious agencies marching in the same direction on military, political and reconstruction fronts in Iraq.

Meanwhile, the public's patience for the war has long eroded, and lawmakers — including members of Bush's own party — are pushing a harder line in ensuring that the Iraqi government is making progress toward self-governance.

Anthony Cordesman, an Iraq expert at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, said Lute comes into the job with a stellar background in combat operation and agency coordination.

Yet the nature of the job poses an enormous challenge. Lute won't be able to deal with civil agencies the way he did with military officers, and his lack of budget authority or ability to reshape regulations could limit his clout, Cordesman said.

"You really need strong leadership and planning from the ambassador and from the commander in Iraq. They're the ones who have to interact with the Iraqis," he said. "In effect, you're a czar in a support role to field commanders and an ambassador 7,000 miles away."

A West Point graduate, Lute, 54, has had an extensive military career. He fought in the 1991
Gulf War.

From 1998 to 2000 he commanded the Second Cavalry Regiment at Fort Polk, La. He served next as the executive assistant to the chairman of the Joint Chiefs for 14 months before joining the 1st Infantry Division in Schweinfurt, Germany, as the assistant division commander. He also served in
Kosovo for six months in 2002 before being assigned to U.S. European Command in January 2003.

Jon Soltz, who leads an organization of veterans critical of administration's war policy, said there is already a war czar — Bush.

"The troops are now depending on Lt. Gen. Lute to do something the President wouldn't — listen to commanders who are telling him we need more diplomacy, not escalation," said Soltz, an Iraq veteran and chairman of VoteVets.org.

Retired Marine Corps Gen. John J. Sheehan was approached about the job, but declined because he thinks that decision-making in Washington lacks connection to a broader understanding of the region.

"These huge shortcomings are not going to be resolved by the assignment of an additional individual to the White House staff," Sheehan wrote in The Washington Post, explaining his reasons for not wanting to be considered.

___

Associated Press writer Lolita C. Baldor contributed to this report.

[Russell Kanning]

Who is this "we"?

[Caleb]

Don't correct my grammar!    Don't forget, you funded this new War Czar when you paid your gas tax.

[Russell Kanning]

So what does it mean when this guy says "just doing my job"? ....scary

[error]

I don't pay a gas tax... not directly anyway.

[Lex]

I don't pay a gas tax... not directly anyway.

Are you saying you have no control over what the gas station does with the money you give it? 

[Dreepa]

I don't pay a gas tax... not directly anyway.

Are you saying you have no control over what the gas station does with the money you give it? 

I don't think he owns a car.

I can't stand when we get these 'czars'.  Do they realize how shitty life was in Russia under the czars?  Oh wait maybe they do.

[Lloyd Danforth]

They had a hard time finding someone who would accept this post

[error]

I don't pay a gas tax... not directly anyway.

Are you saying you have no control over what the gas station does with the money you give it? 

I don't buy gasoline.

[Raineyrocks]

I want to get a horse and use the horsey as a mode of transportation.  Wouldn't it be great to go back  to that?
Then the oil companies can shove their oil up their asses!


I just had a neat thought, (to me anyway).  You know the way a lot of people are looking for new technology, faster, quicker, blah, blah?
Wouldn't it be neat if a whole bunch of people went backwards instead of forward or present?  Get horses, milk your own cows, set up good old stuff, no phones, no computers, (ouch I hear ya), etc.
Don't quakers live like this still?

[Lloyd Danforth]

Amish are religious and  have entire communities that live like that in PA and parts of the midwest.  Quakers are a religious group, who live, like the rest of us,  all over the U.S. and are involved, consistently, in the anti-war movement.

[Raineyrocks]

Amish are religious and  have entire communities that live like that in PA and parts of the midwest.  Quakers are a religious group, who live, like the rest of us,  all over the U.S. and are involved, consistently, in the anti-war movement.

Thanks Lloyd!  I couldn't remember the name.

[powerchuter]

I agree that it would be better to live "closer to nature"...
But you would still have to "cast out" the bad apples...
Who would then create a weapon to subjugate and enslave you...

This is why it would be better that the bad apples met death the first time they aggressed against someone...


These are very difficult concepts for some to accept...
But the world has always been better off with bad apples gone...

[Pat McCotter]

I want to get a horse and use the horsey as a mode of transportation.  Wouldn't it be great to go back  to that?
Then the oil companies can shove their oil up their asses!


I just had a neat thought, (to me anyway).  You know the way a lot of people are looking for new technology, faster, quicker, blah, blah?
Wouldn't it be neat if a whole bunch of people went backwards instead of forward or present?  Get horses, milk your own cows, set up good old stuff, no phones, no computers, (ouch I hear ya), etc.
Don't quakers live like this still?

Then the National Animal Identification System would rule your life.

[Raineyrocks]

I want to get a horse and use the horsey as a mode of transportation.  Wouldn't it be great to go back  to that?
Then the oil companies can shove their oil up their asses!


I just had a neat thought, (to me anyway).  You know the way a lot of people are looking for new technology, faster, quicker, blah, blah?
Wouldn't it be neat if a whole bunch of people went backwards instead of forward or present?  Get horses, milk your own cows, set up good old stuff, no phones, no computers, (ouch I hear ya), etc.
Don't quakers live like this still?

Then the National Animal Identification System would rule your life.

Oh well, it was a nice thought for a little while.