More BS from this WhiteHouse. What the hell is the SECDEF for, anyway??? Oh yeah, they may need another 'fall guy' as things continue to deteriorate.
Bush selects Pentagon official as war czar
Lt. Gen. Lute chosen to oversee Iraq, Afghanistan conflicts, officials say
MSNBC video
WASHINGTON - President Bush has chosen Lt. Gen. Douglas Lute, the Pentagon's director of operations, to oversee the fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan as a "war czar" after a long search for new leadership, administration officials said Tuesday.
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, according to a Pentagon official.
May be limited by lack of civil experience
Lute became director of operations for the Joint Chiefs of Staff in 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, along with other regions.
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 wont 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. Theyre the ones who have to interact with the Iraqis, he said. In effect, youre a czar in a support role to field commanders and an ambassador 7,000 miles away.
Military background
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 the administrations war policy, said there is already a war czar Bush.
The troops are now depending on Lt. Gen. Lute to do something the president wouldnt 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.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/18683993/
