Bush Taps New 'War Czar'

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Bush Taps New 'War Czar'
ABC News Learns Pentagon Official Considered to Oversee Iraq, Afghanistan Wars

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.

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.

http://abcnews.go.com/US/story?id=3176644&page=1

just reported on CNN

[Solly Mack]

1. k/r

my my my

[seemslikeadream]

2. Interview with Charlie Rose

http://www.charlierose.com/features/united-states-military-officers

August 25, 2005
http://politicsandletters.com/wp2/?p=36
“But Maj. Gen. Lute said such a worst-case scenario was unlikely. ‘I will tell you this, as the operation officer of Centcom, if a year from now I’ve got to call on all those army troops that Gen. Schoomaker is prepared to provide, I won’t feel real good about myself.’”



http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0501/28/se.01.html
BRIG. GEN. DOUGLAS LUTE, DIRECTOR OF OPERATIONS, CENTCOM: I think the insurgents are dead-set against these elections being successful. It is absolutely against everything that they stand for to see the Iraqi people stand up and voice their preferences in a peaceful, democratic way.

We need to understand the nature of our enemy. He is ruthless. He will strike innocence. He will kill women and children to make his point.

ZAHN: How successful do you think they'll be?

LUTE: I think they'll be successful in localized attacks. I think that we can expect violence on Election Day. It won't certainly be a Western standard of safe and secure electoral proceedings. But I also think we can expect the Iraqi people to prevail and to speak their voice, to have their voice heard on Election Day.

ZAHN: Some of the threats these insurgents have made have been absolutely gruesome. You just shared a little of that with us right now, but, basically saying, if you go to the polls, we're going to see your blood running down the street.

And now they're actually circulating a flyer in Baghdad that says this: "To those of you who think you can vote and then run away, we will shadow you and catch you. We will cut off your head and the heads of your children."

How worried are you about what might happen to some folks after they vote?

LUTE: Paula, the level of intimidation in Iraq is exceptionally high, especially in several provinces. Actually, four of the 18 provinces in Iraq suffer from high levels of intimidation.

We should put this in context. First of all, in the other 14 provinces, things are relatively secure. In those provinces, there are only several attacks, on average only several attacks a day. But in these four troubled provinces, we can expect the kind of intimidation that that announcement or that brochure advertises.

On the other hand, our contacts with the Iraqi people, the Iraqi security forces and the Iraqi government indicates that the overwhelming majority of Iraqis intend to cast votes on Sunday and are just as serious as the insurgents about being heard. ZAHN: General, give us a sense of the kind of measures that will be in place on Election Day to try to protect voters.

LUTE: Well, the Iraqi government has taken a number of very prudent steps, to include a combination of impeded traffic, curfews, restrictions on firearms, closing of the borders and so forth. And all those measures are backed up by the 150-plus-thousand coalition forces who, in the background, will be prepared to support our Iraqi partners.

ZAHN: General, you now have the top American commander in the field, General Casey, saying he is not confident that Iraqi security forces can defeat the insurgents. What does that mean for U.S. troops?

LUTE: The elections are not going to be sort of the silver bullet that defuse the insurgency. It will persist thereafter.

So, immediately, I don't think there's going to be any change in what we see in Iraq in terms of the role of the U.S. forces. But, increasingly, in 2005, I think we can all expect that we will find that our Iraqi security force partners will begin to step up to the point where they overtake us and assume the lead in the counterinsurgency.

ZAHN: Brigadier General Douglas Lute, thank you so much for your time. And good luck.

LUTE: Thank you. Thanks, Paula.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ZAHN: General Lute giving us a very clear idea of what lies ahead for U.S. and coalition troops.

Hope and freedom. A man who was there when they pulled Saddam Hussein from his hole, well, he casts his vote for a new Iraq. His story still to come.

Also tonight, band of brothers, veterans from two generations on the fight for peace.

And a little bit later on, reporter's notebook. Anderson Cooper takes us inside his perilous journey into Iraq.


http://www.jcs.mil/bios/bio_lute.html