Posted on 05/15/2007 1:53:36 PM PDT by bnelson44
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.
(Excerpt) Read more at abcnews.go.com ...
Is that like a Supreme Allied Commander?
Is his middle name “Patton”?
Since it is only for Afghanistan and Iraq, I would guess not.
They are making it out to be a more important position than it is. He’s Hadley’s aid for crap sakes.
Uhmmmm...do we need one of these?
Seriously- I’m not too schooled in chain of command- but don’t we have the Joint Chiefs, and Secretary of Defense, CIA and on and on...for this?
But he’s a Ranger ;-)
Hadley wanted one, so he got one. Bush is solely responsible for Iraq. He knows that and has said so. This prez is not going to be CYA’ing anything.
Another worthless move by this President.
TAKE OWNERSHIP AND FIGHT THE WAR LIKE A WAR!!!
How does his job differ from CENTCOM?
Seriously- I’m not too schooled in chain of command- but don’t we have the Joint Chiefs, and Secretary of Defense, CIA and on and on...for this?
That was my initial thought, but more and more it sounds like the President thinks he needs a direct aid to go around/through the bureacracy that makes up DoD, etc.
Lieutenant General
Douglas E. Lute
Director for Operations, J-3
Douglas E. Lute, originally from Michigan City, Indiana, graduated from the United States Military Academy at West Point in 1975. His first assignment was to the Second Armored Cavalry Regiment in Bindlach, Germany, where he commanded C Troop. He received a master’s degree from Harvard University and taught in the Social Sciences department at West Point.
Following attendance at the British Army Staff College, he returned to the Second Cavalry as operations officer, serving both at the squadron and regimental levels. In 1990-91 he deployed and fought with the Regiment in Operation DESERT STORM, and later served on the staff of the Chief of Staff of the Army.
He commanded 1st Squadron, 7th Cavalry at Fort Hood, Texas from 1992-94. He then served on the Joint Staff in the Directorate for Strategic Plans and Policy, J-5, and held a War College Fellowship at the Atlantic Council in Washington.
From 1998-2000 he commanded the Second Cavalry Regiment, part of XVIII Airborne Corps, at Fort Polk, Louisiana. He served next as the executive assistant to the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff for 14 months before joining the First Infantry Division in Schweinfurt, Germany, as the Assistant Division Commander. He commanded Multi-national Brigade East in Kosovo for 6 months in 2002 before being assigned to US European Command in January 2003 as the Deputy Director of Operations.
In June 2004, he began more than two years as Director of Operations (J-3) at US Central Command during which he oversaw combat operations in Iraq and Afghanistan as well as other operations in the Middle East, Central Asia, and the Horn of Africa. He assumed duties as Director of Operations, the Joint Staff, in September 2006.
http://www.jcs.mil/bios/bio_lute.html
In our dreams, only..
Centcom is the military. Hadley is National security adviser for the planet, including military, CIA, NSA, alliances, etc. It’s a big job. If he needed a subordinate to work solely on Afghanistan and Iraq, so be it.
Calling him the war czar is ridiculous.
General Emphasizes Use of Partnerships in Fighting Terror
WASHINGTON (American Forces Press Service, April 24, 2007) - The war on terror is more than a military fight; it is a war that will require the work of many U.S. and coalition agencies, a senior military official told a group of civilian leaders attending the Joint Civilian Orientation Conference here yesterday.
Army Lt. Gen. Douglas E. Lute, the Joint Staff’s director of operations, briefed 45 civilian business, academic and community leaders before their weeklong trip to several countries in the U.S. Central Command area of responsibility, including the Horn of Africa.
Terrorists use a flat, open network of communications and pass their information mainly through the Internet, Lt. Gen. Lute said as he briefed the group at the Pentagon. These are aspects that defy U.S. military capability.
“We buy airplanes, ships and tanks and recruit and train Soldiers to deal with the geographics of a tangible target,” he said. “We can bomb training camps, and we can hunt down the enemy, but we can’t bomb the Internet.”
By using a nodal network to spread their extremist ideologies, Lt. Gen. Lute said, terrorists are able to easily recruit members, acquire weapons, build leaders and receive financial backing.
Lt. Gen. Lute said the United States and its coalition partners will also need a network approach to combat against terrorism. By “lacing together networks,” Lt. Gen. Lute said, organizations such as the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Central Intelligence Agency, and departments of State, Justice, and Treasury must work to apply constant pressure on the al Qaeda network.
As the group prepared for its 18,000-mile journey over the next week, Lt. Gen. Lute told the civilian leaders he wanted to put into perspective the importance of what they would be seeing as they viewed CENTCOM operations.
“The bottom line is to not forget where we started,” Lt. Gen. Lute said.
Many Americans believe that the war on terror began in the United States with the 9/11, attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, he said. It actually began 20 years earlier, the general told the civilian leaders, with the fall of the shah of Iran, the Iran hostage crisis, the burning to the ground of the American Embassy in Pakistan, and the Soviet Union invading Afghanistan.
“The main enemy you will be hearing about over and over during the next few days is al Qaeda,” Lt. Gen. Lute said. “But al Qaeda is not the only enemy today in Iraq and Afghanistan.”
Lt. Gen. Lute told the group that even before Sept. 11, 2001, Osama bin Laden advocated the overthrowing of every legitimate government in the Southwest Asia region.
If bin Laden could be successful in planning terrorist attacks from Afghanistan — what many people call one of the most remote places in the world — imagine what he could do in Iraq, the crossroads of the Middle East, Lt. Gen. Lute said.
“The most compelling reason that Iraq is important to us today is because al Qaeda has declared that’s where they want to plant their flag,” he said. “We can’t tolerate al Qaeda in Iraq. We can’t let bin Laden get a toehold in there.”
By working with 93 coalition partners, Lt. Gen. Lute said, the United States can assist the Iraqi government while the “window of opportunity” is still open.
“One of the design features of JCOC is to show you that the U.S. military is not the sole solution to any of these challenges,” Lt. Gen. Lute said. “It’s important for you to understand this isn’t merely a military fight.”
The military is there to provide space and time for Iraq to build its political structure, he said, while other arms of American government help them to develop local solutions for local problems.
“It may take us years or decades to get a local solution in these places,” Lt. Gen. Lute said. “But this must be an Iraqi solution.”
http://www.army.mil/-news/2007/04/25/2852-general-emphasizes-use-of-partnerships-in-fighting-terror/
Bureaucrats, wanting a bigger bureaucracy to CYA for them.
Call him a Five Star General like Ike.
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