The President has found his war czar. Should When things don’t go very well as Iraq’s parliament retires for a two-month recess and eventually reconvenes for its rigorous schedule of meeting for two hours a day three days a week, and surprises the world by failing to achieve any kind of political unity in the country, General Lute will be looking at a new career as a scapegoat. So I presume he has negotiated his compensation for this service in advance. What bugs me is that this is the President’s own job – coordinating multiple fronts of military activity, economic developments, and variations in international political stability is the role that the President plays in foreign policy. Having people to help and advise him, and make policy on his behalf, is one thing; it’s something else to just punt all of these duties to an active-duty general and focus on the fun parts of the job.
