Join Early Retirement Today
Reply
 
Thread Tools Display Modes
War Czar???
Old 05-15-2007, 07:51 PM   #1
Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
 
Join Date: Aug 2002
Posts: 1,322
War Czar???

Well folks, this Administration has hit the bottom. After misusing Powell, letting Rumsfeld, Wolfowitz, Feith, and the other neocons run amuck, hiring Gates, saying it's all up to Petraeus, etc, etc, we now have ... a War Czar!!

So this General Lute is an active duty three star, reports directly to the President, works for the JCS so he also reports to CJCS who is supposed to be the chief military advisor to the President, belongs to the NSC along with SECDEF and CJCS, both of whom he reports to, and is top dog for the Iraq and Afghanistan wars; I suppose in spite of what CENTCOM or Petraeus want to do.

I would love to see the Power Points for this one!! I really don't think this is even legal per USC Title 10.

Oh, and he was skeptical of the troop buildup besides. I guess he hasn't lost all his marbles yet, which I'm sure is a temporary situation.

White House Names General to Be ‘War Czar’

WASHINGTON, May 15 — The White House said this afternoon that President Bush ended his lengthy search for a “war czar” to carry out Iraq and Afghanistan policy by offering the job to an active duty three-star Army general who said in his interview that he had been skeptical of the troop buildup in Iraq.

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/05/15/wa...hp&oref=slogin
FinallyRetired is offline   Reply With Quote
Join the #1 Early Retirement and Financial Independence Forum Today - It's Totally Free!

Are you planning to be financially independent as early as possible so you can live life on your own terms? Discuss successful investing strategies, asset allocation models, tax strategies and other related topics in our online forum community. Our members range from young folks just starting their journey to financial independence, military retirees and even multimillionaires. No matter where you fit in you'll find that Early-Retirement.org is a great community to join. Best of all it's totally FREE!

You are currently viewing our boards as a guest so you have limited access to our community. Please take the time to register and you will gain a lot of great new features including; the ability to participate in discussions, network with our members, see fewer ads, upload photographs, create a retirement blog, send private messages and so much, much more!

Re: War Czar???
Old 05-15-2007, 08:26 PM   #2
Full time employment: Posting here.
 
Join Date: Jun 2006
Posts: 718
Re: War Czar???

I think you people expect too much.
Mwsinron is offline   Reply With Quote
Re: War Czar???
Old 05-15-2007, 09:28 PM   #3
Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
 
Join Date: Aug 2002
Posts: 1,322
Re: War Czar???

Quote:
Originally Posted by Mwsinron
I think you people expect too much.
Mmm... ok? Not sure who "you" is or "too much" of what is expected. Can you elaborate?

Maybe I'm too close to the Beltway and find the sausage making too interesting. But many, maybe most, Americans today are asking why we got into Iraq, what are we doing there, and how can we get out? Those are the topics of some other threads. The answer to those questions rests with the (terrible to date) sausage making, and this war czar is the latest attempt.

Maybe it's too much to ask average Americans to understand and follow such things, but not too much to have them ask their government to be transparent. This war czar idea is the equivalent of firing Ken Lay at Enron, hiring a replacement, then having a subordinate reporting to that replacement figure out how to run Enron and report to the Board. All while Enron was tanking.
FinallyRetired is offline   Reply With Quote
Re: War Czar???
Old 05-15-2007, 09:33 PM   #4
Full time employment: Posting here.
 
Join Date: Jun 2006
Posts: 718
Re: War Czar???

You aren't supposed to understand just keep paying your taxes.
Mwsinron is offline   Reply With Quote
Re: War Czar???
Old 05-15-2007, 09:35 PM   #5
Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
 
Join Date: Jan 2004
Posts: 2,049
Re: War Czar???

No worries! The War Czar will do as well as the Drug Czar.
eridanus is offline   Reply With Quote
Re: War Czar???
Old 05-15-2007, 09:37 PM   #6
Full time employment: Posting here.
 
Join Date: Jun 2006
Posts: 718
Re: War Czar???

Quote:
Originally Posted by eridanus
No worries! The War Czar will do as well as the Drug Czar.
Or the education Czar...

Mwsinron is offline   Reply With Quote
Re: War Czar???
Old 05-15-2007, 10:30 PM   #7
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso)
Give me a forum ...
youbet's Avatar
 
Join Date: Mar 2005
Location: Chicago
Posts: 13,151
Re: War Czar???

Quote:
Originally Posted by SoonToRetire
Maybe I'm too close to the Beltway
Clearly.
__________________
"I wasn't born blue blood. I was born blue-collar." John Wort Hannam
youbet is offline   Reply With Quote
Re: War Czar???
Old 05-15-2007, 11:09 PM   #8
Moderator Emeritus
Nords's Avatar
 
Join Date: Dec 2002
Location: Oahu
Posts: 26,856
Re: War Czar???

Any three-star agreeing to that set of orders should've been immediately retired on 100% disability. Either they're insanely ambitious or they're too dumb to be capable of handling the job. The people who'll suffer the most are the action officers making those PowerPoint slides.

Petraeus, however, is crafty enough to let this poor sucker provide all the top cover. After all, Petraeus could do anything if he wasn't being undercut by the Czar.

Somewhere on an 18th green, Tommy Franks & Stormin' Norman are high-fiving each other at getting out of the trap with their lives and their pensions... and I sure hope they're paying Colin Powell's bar tab.
__________________
*

Co-author (with my daughter) of “Raising Your Money-Savvy Family For Next Generation Financial Independence.”
Author of the book written on E-R.org: "The Military Guide to Financial Independence and Retirement."

I don't spend much time here— please send a PM.
Nords is offline   Reply With Quote
Re: War Czar???
Old 05-15-2007, 11:12 PM   #9
Full time employment: Posting here.
 
Join Date: Jun 2006
Posts: 718
Re: War Czar???

You dont hear much from Powell anymore.. I wonder why..
Mwsinron is offline   Reply With Quote
Re: War Czar???
Old 05-15-2007, 11:19 PM   #10
Moderator Emeritus
Nords's Avatar
 
Join Date: Dec 2002
Location: Oahu
Posts: 26,856
Re: War Czar???

Quote:
Originally Posted by Mwsinron
You dont hear much from Powell anymore.. I wonder why..
He got it off his chest in "Soldier" and he's moved on with his life. His wife was extremely unhappy about the whole SecState gig and she didn't look forward to any further personal security problems. I think they had a little talk about the back half of the first term.

But I hear he's invited Dick Cheney to go quail hunting.
__________________
*

Co-author (with my daughter) of “Raising Your Money-Savvy Family For Next Generation Financial Independence.”
Author of the book written on E-R.org: "The Military Guide to Financial Independence and Retirement."

I don't spend much time here— please send a PM.
Nords is offline   Reply With Quote
Re: War Czar???
Old 05-15-2007, 11:39 PM   #11
Full time employment: Posting here.
 
Join Date: Jun 2006
Posts: 718
Re: War Czar???

Quote:
Originally Posted by Nords
He got it off his chest in "Soldier" and he's moved on with his life. His wife was extremely unhappy about the whole SecState gig and she didn't look forward to any further personal security problems. I think they had a little talk about the back half of the first term.

But I hear he's invited Dick Cheney to go quail hunting.
What could possibly go wrong quail hunting with Dick. I mean thats as good as the stock market going up forever...
Mwsinron is offline   Reply With Quote
Re: War Czar???
Old 05-16-2007, 07:49 AM   #12
Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
 
Join Date: Aug 2002
Posts: 1,322
Re: War Czar???

Quote:
Originally Posted by Nords
Any three-star agreeing to that set of orders should've been immediately retired on 100% disability. Either they're insanely ambitious or they're too dumb to be capable of handling the job.
You got that exactly right. This from today's Washington Post:

"The selection capped a difficult recruitment process for the White House, as its initial candidates rejected the job. At least five retired four-star generals approached by the White House or intermediaries refused to be considered. Lute, a three-star general now serving as chief operations officer on the Joint Chiefs of Staff, in effect will jump over many superiors as he moves to the West Wing and assumes authority to deal directly with Cabinet secretaries and top commanders."

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn...l?hpid=topnews

Quote:
Originally Posted by Nords
The people who'll suffer the most are the action officers making those PowerPoint slides.
I sympathize with the AOs but I fear more for the young men and women in theater who will suffer from disjointed policies. Hopefully you're right and Petraeus will just ignore this guy or use him as top cover. He pretty much has to, since Lute is not in his reporting chain. Besides we already have a "war czar," in fact we have two of them, SECDEF and CJCS and their war duties are set in the law. Now we have a third, reminds me of the old Troika system in the Soviet Union when it was going down the tubes.

I wonder if these guys ever heard of the principle of Unity of Command? Every day that goes by I'm happier that I'm retired.
FinallyRetired is offline   Reply With Quote
Re: War Czar???
Old 05-16-2007, 08:15 AM   #13
Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
 
Join Date: Aug 2002
Posts: 1,322
Re: War Czar???

Quote:
Originally Posted by youbet
Clearly.
Have to wait for the housing market to turn around, could be years.
FinallyRetired is offline   Reply With Quote
Re: War Czar???
Old 05-16-2007, 06:23 PM   #14
Full time employment: Posting here.
Arif's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jun 2005
Posts: 761
Re: War Czar???

I think they draw straws for that assignement. Just look at how long it took for them to fill the position. No one wanted that job and for good reason.

BTW- Isn't ol GW supposed to be the commander in chief? Looks like he delegated that job to the war czar.
__________________
You take the blue pill - the story ends, you wake up in your bed and believe whatever you want to believe. You take the red pill - you stay in Wonderland and I show you how deep the rabbit-hole goes.
Arif is offline   Reply With Quote
Re: War Czar???
Old 05-16-2007, 06:31 PM   #15
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso)
Give me a forum ...
dex's Avatar
 
Join Date: Oct 2003
Posts: 5,105
Re: War Czar???

Ok, this is no comment on the war.
I think he is being called a manager. But isn't Czar a Russian term? They lost didn't they? Can we find another word?

Managers in general - Didn't we have generals that ran the wars? Eisenhower? McGarther? With so many managers I think there will be one private fighting a war and everyone else will be gathering info and managing.

End
__________________
Sometimes death is not as tragic as not knowing how to live. This man knew how to live--and how to make others glad they were living. - Jack Benny at Nat King Cole's funeral
dex is offline   Reply With Quote
Re: War Czar???
Old 05-17-2007, 10:41 AM   #16
Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
bright eyed's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jan 2007
Posts: 1,891
Re: War Czar???

I think Peter Principle will come a knockin' on this one!
__________________
If i think of something clever to say, i'll put it here...
bright eyed is offline   Reply With Quote
Re: War Czar???
Old 05-17-2007, 01:11 PM   #17
Moderator Emeritus
bssc's Avatar
 
Join Date: Dec 2005
Posts: 10,125
Re: War Czar???

Quote:
Originally Posted by dex
Ok, this is no comment on the war.
I think he is being called a manager. But isn't Czar a Russian term? They lost didn't they? Can we find another word?
This has been around a while as a metaphorical term in Washington. James Schlesinger was referred to as Carter's energy czars. There have also been education czars, anti-terrorism czars and drug czars. As you can see, when ever the term has been used, there has been a positive out come. Right?
__________________
Angels danced on the day that you were born.
bssc is offline   Reply With Quote
Re: War Czar???
Old 05-18-2007, 03:05 AM   #18
Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
ladelfina's Avatar
 
Join Date: Oct 2005
Posts: 2,713
Re: War Czar???

Quote:
Can we find another word?
I agree! But you have to think of what the intent is behind it. Since in a tiresome democracy there has to be agreement, horse-trading, compromise, adhering to laws and all that stuff.. how refreshing it is to have a Czar who is in theory going to forge ahead cutting a great swath through the unwashed hordes.

The etymology of "czar" originates with "Caesar".. the deified Roman emperors.

It's obvious that's what some segment of the populace really wants:
"Double Guantanamo!" (loud applause)

In the reality-based world, it's just gonna be another tactic to deflect responsibility/accountability and criticism.
ladelfina is offline   Reply With Quote
Re: War Czar???
Old 05-18-2007, 05:35 PM   #19
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso)
Give me a forum ...
 
Join Date: Feb 2007
Posts: 5,072
Re: War Czar???

Quote:
Originally Posted by Mwsinron
What could possibly go wrong quail hunting with Dick.


chinaco is offline   Reply With Quote
Reply


Currently Active Users Viewing This Thread: 1 (0 members and 1 guests)
 
Thread Tools
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off
Trackbacks are Off
Pingbacks are Off
Refbacks are Off


Similar Threads
Thread Thread Starter Forum Replies Last Post
Can someone remind me why we're in Iraq? cube_rat Other topics 65 05-14-2007 09:38 PM
interesting take on the Iraq war JohnEyles Other topics 0 01-16-2007 11:51 AM
The Liberals' War Craig Other topics 111 09-28-2006 05:36 PM
Are We In The Beginning Stages Of World War 3 Daneboy Other topics 26 07-28-2006 09:32 PM
The Hidden Cost of War Mountain_Mike Other topics 4 06-20-2005 07:16 PM

» Quick Links

 
All times are GMT -6. The time now is 06:16 AM.
 
Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.8 Beta 1
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, vBulletin Solutions, Inc.