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When he goes through his confirmation hearings, I hope they ask him about these comments, uttered several Friedmans ago:
US general sees significant withdrawal in Iraq
By Peter Spiegel in London and Demetri Sevastopulo in Washington
Published: August 24 2005 21:46 | Last updated: August 24 2005 23:49The US is expected to pull significant numbers of troops out of Iraq in the next 12 months in spite of the continuing violence, according to the general responsible for near-term planning in the country.
Maj Gen Douglas Lute, director of operations at US Central Command, yesterday said the reductions were part of a push by Gen John Abizaid, commander of all US troops in the region, to put the burden of defending Iraq on Iraqi forces.
[]
Last week, Gen Peter Schoomaker, US army chief of staff, said his office was planning for the possibility that troop levels could be maintained until 2009. 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,” he said. Gen George Casey, commander of allied forces in Iraq, made similar comments last month on reductions that could come by early next year but they were quickly played down by the White House.
S'pose he's feeling bad about himself yet?
(h/t LS and TeddySanFran)
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zed?
Zed!!
I’ll go tell folks downstairs another new/different thread…
What happened to the ComPost thread?
Hey, Jane!!! I got robbed, what happened to the Brady post???
The General is suffering from wingnut dementia.
CTuttle @ 5
Pulled for Lute, up next.
If Bush cannot handle the commander in chief role…then he needs to stand down.. I want my country to elect its military leaders, thank you very much.
As I said down below when LS first posted the linkie to this story, it is NOT a good thing to have another active military filling a position such as this. Of course, the reality is NO civilian with anything resembling a BRAIN would be foolish enough to set themself up as the Chimpenfuhrer’s scapegoat but that’s another story.
I can’t help but recall the sage words of Woody Allen, to the effect of “The Russian Revolution began when the peasantry discovered that the Czar and the Tsar were the same person.”
OBTW, in these parlous times, “wTsar” begins with a silent “W”… :)
Jane Hamsher @ 7
Don’t worry, you keep the zed. Of course now there’ll be a zed two. Somehow.
petedownunder @ 4
So it wasn’t just me who read it!!! G’day Mate!!!
wonder how Lute, will square his previous comments relating to the withdrawl? Guess he’s got to feeling much better about himself these days.
Jane Hamsher @ 7
Will my Zed still be there??? :(
S’pose he’s feeling bad about himself yet?
He will be, as soon as he realizes that the job is actually for a spear catcher.
Eureka Springs @ 8
I want civilian oversight of my active military, not military filling civilain roles.
Oh damn! There’s that naughty oversight word again. So underused in this admin…
Dunno, but I wonder if he was one of those that was a part of this plan http://www.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/N...../index.htm (I never get enough time to sit down and read it)
Pulling out of Iraq. I don’t think so. The stage is set to attack Iran. If Bush leaves the Middle East it means a failed presidency. Don’t think the little man’s ego will permit that.
This latest move changes nothing.
I think I’ll just call him General Loot. It seems fitting.
So just where does the War Czar fit in the chain of command? At W’s heel?
Has he really just instituted a new step in the military command structure? Or is he just taking point on military PR? Just too bizarre, even for Jr.
EvilDrPuma @ 20
I think I’ll just call him General Loon.
Fixed your typo….
DrDick @ 15
Goalie for the Jarts team.
This changes everything
Erm
or maybe not.
Maybe Bush needed some military in the WH to protect him when Gonzo and Rove get frogmarched.
DrDick @ 15
A spear carrier? I thought this was a water-carrier job. Jeebus, I wish these people would keep me in the loop about their sockpuppet appointments.
You know, the more I think about this, the more certain I become that the Idiot-in-Chief has no idea what he’s doing.
I think we’ve reached the stage where he’s throwing things at the wall and seeing if any of them stick.
“Any way you look at it you lose…”
john in sacramento @ 17
Gah! Where’s the edit button? ;-) Please forgive the poor grammar
When is Bush going to create the crown prince dictator and the regents…oh, yeah, he already did that.
Oklahoma kiddo @ 18
Well, WE already know it’s a failed presidency. And other than the 30%ers, must of the rest of the country AND the world know it as well.
Unfortunately, attacking Iran will just make it that much worse since the only way to attack Iran and achieve even a Pyrrhic victory is by nuke-a-lot.
Nice use of “the google” by LS and Teddy SanFran, and it’s great to have this quote up so quickly–a short time after 5pm, fast enough to become part of the introduction cycle?
Wonder if they pushed up this announcement just a little bit after taking the hit on the Comey testimony this morning. And don’t forget the Frontline doc on domestic surveillance tonight, as a follow up to Comey (Greenwald link was lost on the “diappeared” WaPo thread.)
Doesn’t it stand to reason if the Administration wanted to pull out of Iraq or lower troop levels they didn’t need a war czar to do it?
I still don’t understand what this person’s function is. I thought we have the Secretary of Defense to overlook these things? And what happened to fiscal responsibility?
Dipping back into an earlier thread WRT Falwell —
The Grim Reaper tends to do the famous in threes…now I’m wondering who the other two are going to be.
tbsa @ 22
general kLute:
tells the story of a
prostituteguy who assists adetectivepreznit in solving amysteryproblemI’m frankly amazed that the Bushies managed to find someone stupid enough to take on this little job.
Oklahoma kiddo @ 32
Of course.
John D. @ 36
You obviously have not spent enough time around undergraduates.
Here are some more Chimp Admin. personnel changes announced today: Personnel Announcement
John D. @ 36
Oh come on, you can’t really accuse the wingnuts of possessing a thread of intelligence.
Sorry, another point:
About the military taking away youtube and myspace, AND IRaq not releasing civilian casualities AND not allowing photographers at the scene of violence in IRaq, why am I getting the feeling that they will start telling us “good news” from Iraq because we will have very little to counteract what they say?
And won’t good news mean we can leave Iraq? And doesn’t bad news mean we should leave Iraq? Why wait until September? Just to allow contractors to finagle another 100billion from our children as taxpayers?
You know I find it fascinating that all the officers I have had the pleasure to serve under in my twenty years, the ones that spoke truth to power, usually, were QMP’ed out!!! All the ones that toed the line were subsequently promoted!!! That applied across the rank structure from second looie to field grade level!!!
John D. @ 36
That was high on my list of initial thoughts. General Loot can’t be the smartest guppy in the tank if he’s willing to do this.
Ben Sargent cartoon HERE!!
LS @ 29
LS, you’re as sharp as always!!! ;)
Who knew the Bushies were musical? This means Deadeye will be learning how to play the Lute.
EvilDrPuma @ 43
I think that we can take it for granted that he was, shall we say, a “floater”.
AZ Matt @ 44
I can’t argue with that metaphor.
DrDick @ 47
Heh. For just a second there, I thought you were continuing with the fish motif.
I put up a post about this on my blog back in April when this was first floated.
I’ll stand by what I had to say back then.
I know, Bad Busted.
Blog wh*re.
I hope congress doesn’t confirm him or anybody else for this job. Bush needs to be the commander in chief. If he wasn’t so busy being commander of scandals, he’d have more free time.
No more money for this immoral war. How does TSF say it?
TROOPS
HOME
NOW!
EvilDrPuma @ 48
Only driven by a little ole lady…
EvilDrPuma @ 49
Lutefisk is served.
LS @ 25
Bush’ll be frogmarchin’ too
can any of us imagine the kind of pond scum it would take to voluntarily work for a war criminal?
this guy must be the bottom of the oldest and leakiest barrel. perhaps hiding in the Smithsonian?
Bush is getting ready to bail out of Iraq - check out this May 9 Executive Order:
http://www.whitehouse.gov/news.....09-10.html
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.
CTuttle @ 42
Hmm, I always though shit rolled DOWN hill!
Bustednuckles @ 50
Nice Blog, and Impeach the Bastards Now!!!
Well, I guess this means that Bush is serious about winning the war in Iraq.
Next, we can look forward to a Czar for the Ministry of Silly Walks and a Viceroy for the Department of Redundancy Department.
oldtree @ 56
The way these Borgias act, they probably blackmailed into taking the job.
Does this new royal position (’czar’) require democratic approval of the legislature? Is this some sort of new cabinet position? I’m with Englischlehrer on this, I thought there was a Department of Defense and that was renamed from the War Department.
We don’t need war royalty if the people want the war to end.
Called my good Senator Durbin and slippery Obama today to tell them to vote for Feingdol-Reid free and clear of any other bills.
LS @ 57
Is this for real?!! Could it be in response to the petition for US withdrawal in the Iraqi parliment?
oh no! a hat-tip during billable-hours time!
thank you, dear Jane, but the credit really goes to LS; I simply brought over the relevant grafs to the prevthread.
How real good are ya feeling, Lutey-Lute?
Contest idea — what’s W’s nickname for him?
WarDude?
LuteDude?
QuaaLute?
Czarie?
Czar-a-lute?
Brisingamen @ 64
This is for real.
TeddySanFran @ 65
Lutey-toon
Iglesias on HardBall!!!
Organizational chart? Chain of command? Hello? Anbody? Paging Sheldon Whitehouse? Will you get on that?
LS @ #66 — Wow.
Not doubting your veracity, I thought I might be hallucinating.
OK — so what ARE they trying to hide?
(Yes, I know I’m a suspicious b*tch.)
From the executive order:
“Sec. 2. Purpose of the Temporary Organization. The purpose of the ITAO shall be to perform the specific project of supporting executive departments and agencies in concluding remaining large infrastructure projects expeditiously in Iraq, in facilitating Iraq’s transition to self-sufficiency, and in maintaining an effective diplomatic presence in Iraq.”
Brisingamen @ 70
They are “hiding” the date of withdrawal.
Why is Tweety so bent out of shape in changing the constitution to allow foreigners a chance to run for preznut. Is it Arnold or Blair?
LS @ 71
Is all this a head fake?
It is probable that this actually signals the beginning of the end of the war. Taking away decision making from the White House. Installed by Gates and the Brass with the acquiescence of a now almost powerless and disfunctional administration.
A sort of extra constitutional coup, something I’ve been expecting for a long time. I could be wrong of course. If the czar says let’s pull back however then it provides a figleaf needed by the GOP and Bush. As tiny as it allows Bush to step away.
TPM: Hillary Will Vote For Feingold Amendment
Elliott @ 74
Note the word “concluding“.
Hey everyone, I think I found where the War Czar’s “office” will be located. Just under the president’s, naturally.
Brisingamen @ 70
My first three guesses:
1. The words “cut and run.”
2. The withdrawal through Iran.
3. All of the above.
punaise @ 54
Uhggggg! Bad memories from Lent (the season before Easter) past.
(Regional foods)
I am so glad I was able to
weasletalk my way out of going to Lutefisk nights at the neighbor’s (Norwegians) Lutheran church back home growing up.Although I miss the German’s kuchen and the fleischkuekle
Looking at the czar’s picture again, he looks a teeny bit like Jeb.
“remember the Lutesitania”
punaise @ 76
Would she vote for it as a stand-alone bill?
LS @ 71
Shouldn’t they have been doing this since we went into Baghdad?
Tweety: Has Abu been a bad Attorney General?
Iglesias: Yes
I’m guessing this is the War Czar’s job:
“Sec. 4. Personnel and Administration. (a) The ITAO shall be headed by a Director selected by the Secretary.
(b) The Secretary shall transfer from the IRMO to the ITAO the personnel, assets, liabilities, and records of the IRMO.”
TeddySanFran @ 65
Prol’ly WarDude. But I’d vote for QuaaLute and call him 714 for short.
LoudounLib @ 81
A little bit, I suppose. Like Jeb with muscles. Jeb’s action figure? (Chang not included.)
EvilDrPuma @ 79
Ain’t no way that’s happening unless Iran is willing to let us do so. Besides, look at the terrain — I sure as hell wouldn’t want to try it.
Is THIS why Iran is suddenly willing to talk to us?
john in sacramento @ 80
Did you ever have Kumla? My grandmother Ingaborge used to make it at the holidays. Pork, Potatoe dumplings simmered in butter sauce. Not exactly South Beach!
I don’t like the Borgia BushCo guys reordering our government. I.do.not.trust.them.
ccmask @ 73
Prol’ly Ahnald as HE’S a MANLY man which means Tweety can go all weak-kneed and slobber on his mike.
dakine01 @ 92
Oh yeah. I forgot about Arnie’s muscles. Tweety loves him some of that noise.
Brisingamen @ 34
If Deadeye Dick is one of them, no force on earth will be able to contain the nationwide dance party that will break out in the streets.
Guiliani in the spotlight is written under Tweety’s screen. I mean, come on. I hope Tweety puts all his eggs in that basket especially when all the good rudy stories start coming out. And they will.
Everything from the Iraq Reconstruction Management Office (IRMO) is being transferred to the
Iraq Transition Assistance Office (ITAO).
Man in the Mists @ 94
You, sir, are a mind reader! We should be so lucky…
ccmask @ 73
I just watched the same thing and I’m not sure where your “bent out of shape” characterization comes from. He asked them a question.
LS @ 71
LS, thanks for the link, however this snippet points to the the prolonged prescence, rather than complete withdrawal! The four super bases and the largest embassy ever built pop into my mind immediately!!!
raven @ 90
We never had that but, I’d always pretend I was sick when my Mom said we were having ‘pigs in the blanket’ (don’t know if it’s regional or country of origin specific), because well … the mental picture made me literally sick to my stomach
LS @ 96
where’s Chalabi in relation to all this?
who gives a shit who this fool is. I for one could giva a shit what he is. Lets focus — there is No Czar! this is just one more method of drawing another wall between the public and the chimp.
Now, let us all watch carefully as the Congress rushes to fill this appointment. And don’t forget folks, this czar will need a staff, building to house the czars workers, funding to cover expenses and at least one
billion for incidentals!
CTuttle @ 99
Oh, I agree totally. There is no way on earth that they will remove everyone from Iraq. The greater worry for me, is that this is way too little too late, because if that TET offensive type of attack materializes that Siun was talking about, this will all be moot.
OT for some, not me
WASHINGTON - Nearly two dozen officials who received hefty performance bonuses last year at the Veterans Affairs Department also sat on the boards charged with recommending the payments.VA
Does anybody know what Lute was doing at Harvard and what he was teaching in the “social sciences” at West Point?
It seems as if, like Petraeus, the WH and Cheney are belatedly bringing in the intellectual army, to try to show that they’re working a plan that actually makes sense as they run out the clock. The whole cynical exercise of Petraeus is something like a 22-month experiment to see how undermanned counterinsurgency techniques work, measured in two or three Freidmans, all of it 3 years and thousands of soldiers too late too little.
But I’m curious about the intellectual basis for Lute. Basically it’s give the smart junior guy the job, since none of the old established names will take it.
After rape and pillage there had to be lute
john in sacramento @ 100
Ha:
Pigs in a blanket was originally pork and rice inside cooked cabbage leaves, a German meal called “Schweine in einer Decke.” Cooks in the British Isles adapted the idea, using a form of processed meat called a chipolata sausage (a sort of 17th Century hot dog) to make a dish which was essentially a sausage wrapped first in a piece of bacon, and then in pastry dough, and baked.
zhiv @ 105
Or it just may be another proof of the Peter Principle. Unfortunately, they’re playing out the experiment with our military.
Cozumel @ 98
Sorry Coz….he brings it up all of the time, not just today. He thinks it is another stupid part of the constitution. Believe me, if it was the first or second time, I wouldn’t evennotice it.
raven @ 104
That is one sorry situation, hopefully, someone will follow up on this nonsense!!!
Scarborough saying on msnbc that due to Farewell’s death, MccAIN IS OUT. He couldn’t win without him.
Jane’s WaPoo thread is back.
“Iran enriching LARGE amounts of uranium”…CNN
Sounds like they are going to attack Iran….
War Czar to take over Hadley’s job of running Iraq and Afghanistan (I didn’t know he was running the wars)….frees up Hadley to deal with Iran and North Korea. Wonderful.
I guess the guy upthread in the executive order isn’t going to be Lute.
I may have missed the details on exectly whcih committee wil have the confiremation hearing.
It was only days after the czar busness was raised that the I-Conn put his committe’s willingness to help in this matter front andc centet.
Who gets the confrimation hearing? If Anyone?
How the heck do you have a confirmation of a job called War Czar in this country? This is so insane.
I don’t think our (tattered, frayed) Constitution has a provision for Congressional confirmation of any Czars.
raven @ 107
“Schweine in einer Decke.”
Well, if they would have called it that I would have eaten it
BTW, the Compost thread is back up
LS @ 115
Rove goes for the pinko commie fascist attack..
Link to the new thread..
Blank Kludge @ 114
If there IS a confirmation, Armed Services seems to be semi-logical starting point
raven @ 104
is it really that bad?
sigh, we got a lot of work to do.