Hey, We Have a War Czar!

Get your news from a source that’s not owned and controlled by oligarchs. Sign up for the free Mother Jones Daily.


Sorry, sorry, the Bush Administration doesn’t like the title “War Czar.” The official title of the man named to personally oversee the war efforts in Iraq and Afghanistan on behalf of the president is “assistant to the president and deputy national security adviser for Iraq and Afghanistan policy and implementation.” Sure, much easier than “War Czar.”

The guy’s name is Douglas Lute, and he’s a three star general — as the guy in charge of making Iraq go right, he may have the hardest job in America. My question: what does the Secretary of Defense do all day, play tiddlywinks?

Update: Looks like Lute advocated partial withdrawal in 2005, saying “We believe at some point, in order to break this dependence on the… coalition, you simply have to back off and let the Iraqis step forward… You have to undercut the perception of occupation in Iraq. It’s very difficult to do that when you have 150,000-plus, largely western, foreign troops occupying the country.” Man, the White House must have had a real hard time finding someone to take this job — they couldn’t even get someone who supports the central tenets of their war policy!

BEFORE YOU CLICK AWAY!

“Lying.” “Disgusting.” “Scum.” “Slime.” “Corrupt.” “Enemy of the people.” Donald Trump has always made clear what he thinks of journalists. And it’s plain now that his administration intends to do everything it can to stop journalists from reporting things they don’t like—which is most things that are true.

No one gets to tell Mother Jones what to publish or not publish, because no one owns our fiercely independent newsroom. But that also means we need to directly raise the resources it takes to keep our journalism alive. There’s only one way for that to happen, and it’s readers like you stepping up. Please help with a donation today if you can—even a few bucks will make a real difference. A monthly gift would be incredible.

payment methods

BEFORE YOU CLICK AWAY!

“Lying.” “Disgusting.” “Scum.” “Slime.” “Corrupt.” “Enemy of the people.” Donald Trump has always made clear what he thinks of journalists. And it’s plain now that his administration intends to do everything it can to stop journalists from reporting things they don’t like—which is most things that are true.

No one gets to tell Mother Jones what to publish or not publish, because no one owns our fiercely independent newsroom. But that also means we need to directly raise the resources it takes to keep our journalism alive. There’s only one way for that to happen, and it’s readers like you stepping up. Please help with a donation today if you can—even a few bucks will make a real difference. A monthly gift would be incredible.

payment methods

We Recommend

Latest

Sign up for our free newsletter

Subscribe to the Mother Jones Daily to have our top stories delivered directly to your inbox.

Get our award-winning magazine

Save big on a full year of investigations, ideas, and insights.

Subscribe

Support our journalism

Help Mother Jones' reporters dig deep with a tax-deductible donation.

Donate