THE 'War Czar' !

[genmirajborgza786]

Bush Taps New 'War Czar'
ABC News Learns Pentagon Official Selected to Oversee Iraq, Afghanistan Wars
By MARTHA RADDATZ
WASHINGTON, D.C., May 15, 2007 —


After a frustrating search for a new "war czar" to oversee the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, ABC News has learned that President Bush has chosen the Pentagon's director of operations, Lt. Gen. Douglas Lute, for the role.


Watch "World News With Charles Gibson" at 6:30 p.m. EDT for more on this story

In the newly created position of assistant to the president and deputy national security adviser for Iraq and Afghanistan policy and implementation, Lute would have the power to direct the Pentagon, State Department and other agencies involved in the two conflicts.



Lute would report directly to the president and to National Security Adviser Stephen Hadley.


Filling the position had become a priority for the White House, after a handful of retired generals told the White House they did not want the job. Among them, retired Marine Corps four-star Gen. Jack Sheehan, who proved an embarrassment to the White House after he wrote an op-ed piece in the Washington Post saying there were "huge shortcomings" in the White House view of the strategy in Iraq.

"What I found in discussions with current and former members of this administration," wrote Sheehan, "is that there is no agreed upon strategic view of the Iraq problem or the region."

Lute is a widely respected officer, but is by no means a high-profile player in Washington. Before assuming his position at the Pentagon, he was the director of operations for Central Command while Gen. John Abizaid was the commander.

A West Point graduate who holds a masters degree from Harvard University, Lute also fought in Operation Desert Storm in the 1991 Gulf War.

Lute must gain congressional approval before he can assume the position. He'll likely have two deputies -- one for policy (a civilian), one for implementation (an officer).


Copyright © 2007 ABC News Internet Ventures

http://abcnews.go.com/print?id=3176644

 

[genmirajborgza786]

Bush's new war czar worries hawks
Lt. Gen. Douglas Lute, though vowing to push for success in Iraq, was a skeptic of the buildup.
By Peter Baker and Robin Wright
Washington Post

WASHINGTON - In selecting Lt. Gen. Douglas Lute to manage the war in Iraq, President Bush has chosen a soldier who believes there is no purely military solution to the conflict and wants to forge a political accommodation among Iraqi factions that may fall short of full reconciliation but could lead to an exit strategy, friends and colleagues say.
Lute's appointment shifts the balance in Bush's war council by adding a powerful voice who resisted sending more U.S. troops to Iraq and plans to pressure civilian agencies to take on a greater role. Lute promised Bush that he would do everything he could to make the buildup succeed despite his reservations, but he might be more open to arguments for a withdrawal should it fail, the colleagues said.

"The president is bringing a military person into the decision group that is willing to speak truth to power and has a sophisticated understanding of the multidimensional nature of the problem and has no agenda except to enable the U.S. to get through this in the best way possible," said Thomas Leney, who has known Lute since they were lieutenants in 1974.

While the choice encouraged some Bush policy critics who hope Lute will shift direction in Iraq, many leading advocates of the buildup, inside and outside the administration, exchanged anxious e-mails and telephone calls Wednesday.

"He's a known opponent of the president's stated strategy," said one military adviser to the White House, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because he will have to work with Lute. "I don't understand how that works. Maybe he's come around and seen the light . . . but if you're going to have someone do this, it should be someone who really believes it."

The White House dismissed the concerns.

"Gen. Lute not only supports the way forward, but he also thinks that there is - that we're making progress," White House spokesman Tony Snow said. "And now it is his job to work in a coordinating role to try to look at everything that's going on under the auspices of the executive branch."

As the White House's new "war czar," Lute will oversee the policy on and the execution of operations in Iraq and Afghanistan, reporting directly to the president and issuing directions to cabinet secretaries in Bush's name. Although the new position is not subject to congressional approval, the Senate will have to approve Lute's assignment because he is a senior active-duty military officer.

His selection came amid the administration's internal struggle over extending the troop buildup in Iraq. Gen. David Petraeus, the U.S. commander there, has promised a progress report by September, which many in Washington have come to consider a make-or-break moment. But the administration is trying to tamp down expectations that the situation will have changed dramatically by then. Officials are already studying how to keep the extra troops in Iraq.

At one point in the winter, officials said they would have logistical difficulties keeping the additional forces in Iraq beyond summer. Now officials think they can extend the buildup until February, but are working to find ways to keep the reinforcements in Iraq beyond that month if necessary.

At the same time, sources said, tension is growing between Adm. William Fallon, the new chief of the U.S. Central Command, and some in the White House who think Fallon is too eager to find a way to scale back U.S. military involvement in Iraq.

Some hawks in the administration likewise doubt that Defense Secretary Robert Gates fully supports the current strategy and wonder whether Lute will be an ally.

As operations director of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Lute was a leading skeptic of the troop increase during the review that led to Bush's new strategy in January, some sources close to the process said. He reflected a consensus among senior officers that it would produce a temporary benefit, at best.

"Almost across the board, almost all the chiefs, certainly the Army chief, the Centcom commander, Doug Lute, the in-country commander - none of them wanted to do the surge," retired Army Gen. Barry McCaffrey said. "Everybody told the president, 'Don't do it.' "

Even now, insiders said, Lute remains dubious because the requisite political changes and economic development in Iraq have not happened. One priority in his new assignment, they said, will be to hammer away at civilian agencies, particularly the State Department, to do more to revitalize the Iraqi economy, provide jobs, demobilize militias, and give Iraqis hope.

"He'll start asking people: 'What are you doing? How can we get you to contribute?' " said retired Gen. Gordon Sullivan, president of the Association of the United States Army. "This is the kind of guy who can ask those questions. . . . What Doug brings is a good understanding of the importance of using the full panoply of U.S. power."

That will require him to force cooperation among agencies that have squabbled through much of the four-year-old war - a tall order for a three-star officer dealing with onetime superiors and cabinet members.

"If necessary, he will kick people in the pants to get things done," said an officer who works with him. "And he will not be shy about telling his opinion."
Find this article at:

http://www.philly.com/philly/news/nation_world/7596342.html

© Copyright 2007 Philly Online, LLC. All Rights Reserved.

http://www.printthis.clickability.c...ws/nation_world/7596342.html&partnerID=165776

 

[genmirajborgza786]

PHOTO OF THE WARCZAR

http://media.philly.com/images/300*375/306c7972-8ae6-4560-8c8c-112f99c1ef59.jpg

 

[genmirajborgza786]

Bush Names Pentagon General 'War Czar'
By BEN FELLER
Associated Press Writer
May 15, 2007

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.
http://www.spokesmanreview.com/ap/story_pf.asp?ID=2112224


photo
http://www.spokesmanreview.com/ap/media/War_Czar.sff.jpg