Posted on 05/17/2007 12:53:34 AM PDT by MinorityRepublican
In selecting Lt. Gen. Douglas E. 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, according to friends and colleagues.
Lute's appointment shifts the balance within 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 will do everything he can to make the buildup succeed despite his reservations, but he may 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 J. Leney, who has known Lute since they were lieutenants in 1974.
The choice encouraged some Bush policy critics who hope that Lute will eventually shift direction in Iraq, and triggered complaints among some supporters of the war who fear the same thing. Many leading advocates of the current buildup, inside and outside the administration, exchanged anxious e-mails and telephone calls yesterday, expressing irritation that the president was undercutting his own strategy by tapping someone who had been on the other side during internal debates.
"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.
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonpost.com ...
more political correctness and nice-nice on the way...
What’s a War Czar? Has W delegated CIC?
Let me run you through this little dramatization, to explain the need for such a new position.
President Bush - "Hi, War Czar! Welcome aboard. Here, hold this bag makered "Failure" for me, would you."
War Czar - "Um.. okay."
President Bush - "Well, I'm busy, gotta go. Good luck in your new job!"
War Czar - "Sir, wait, you've left me holding the bag"
if we had Pattons and Macathurs we wouldn’t need a silly war tzar. btw I dont think this one has even served in combat
Ummm, isn't that the job of the State Department?
doing condis job.
This czar is supposed to coordinate the various government departments, such as State and Defense. Giving the job to Condi or SecDef Gates would not work for that reason. I don’t expect the President to be personally reviewing plans making sure the military “clear & hold” is coordinated with reconstruction projects, etc. This “czar” better be ensuring cooperation and squashing the turf wars.
This czar is supposed to coordinate the various government departments, such as State and Defense. Giving the job to Condi or SecDef Gates would not work for that reason. I don’t expect the President to be personally reviewing plans making sure the military “clear & hold” is coordinated with reconstruction projects, etc. This “czar” better be ensuring cooperation and squashing the turf wars.
Why appoint him only now?
Nothing surprises from this incompetent administration anymore, and I expect nothing from this new office except perhaps a Medal of Freedom for Lute before Bush FINALLY leaves office.
Because it’s better than not appointing him now?
Czars are for Russians.
Other than creating another layer of bureaucracy, wasting manpower positions in untold numbers of commands and agencies that will be required to deal with the WC position, how will it help?
In the time you posted that you don’t think he has combat experience, you could have looked it up.
http://www.jcs.mil/bios/bio_lute.html
Czars are for Russians is what I thought. Maybe we will get a tribunal and secretariat to go along with all the un
American crap.
Harry S Truman - “The Buck Stops Here.”
George W Bush - “The Buck Never Gets Here.”
Unless Bush gives him the Vice-president’s office in the White House, I won’t believe this is anything but the beginning of retreat. My guess is that the 4-stars who were offered this job said pretty much the same thing and were turned down.
To me, it looks like we have had multiple short-term strategies in hopes we could get the hell out of there and the Iraqis could take control of their own destiny. That hasn't worked because Al Qaida is throwing everything they've got at Iraq. This is good in that they're not throwing everything they've got at our schools, shopping malls, power plants, bridges, etc. It has, however, dragged the occupation past the threshold of America's attention span.
So we can give up or do it right. Doing it right means getting the efforts of the military and civilian agencies coordinated. When a city is cleared and held the agencies handling reconstruction contracts need to be ready to move in right behind the troops. The people in that city need to see progress and that siding with government is fruitful vs. siding with the terrorists.
So, we need someone to coordinate the military and civilian efforts. No one is in both camps so one side is going to be subjugated to the other. Do we put the military under someone from a civilian agency, like the State Department? Show of hands, all you Freepers, who would like to see that? The alternative is to put someone from the military in charge. Ideally, it would be someone who is willing to stand up to the bureaucracy and kick some butts. The WaPo article portrays Gen. Lute as just such a person:
Even now, insiders said, Lute remains dubious -- not of the military's ability to perform but because the requisite political reforms 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 for the future. "He'll start asking people: 'What are you doing? How can we get you to contribute?' " said retired Gen. Gordon R. 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."
Step one: give him his fourth-star. Step two: have a liason given an next to Rice at Foggy Bottom (Maybe a desk in HER office. Step three” fire that low-life deputy of hers. STEP FIVE: GIVE HIM THE RIGHT TO TAP INTO THE BUDGETS OF THE CIVILIAN DEPARTMENTS AND TO REQUISITION PEOPLE AND STUFF.
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