Hadley secretly interviewing candidates for war czar

Bush National Security Adviser Stephen Hadley has been quietly interviewing candidates for a new cabinet-level position that will help micro-manage the war and help control what the President does and doesn't hear:

Mr. Hadley is interviewing candidates, including military generals, fora new high-profile job that people in Washington are calling the warczar. The official (Mr. Hadley, ever cautious, prefers “implementationand execution manager”) would brief Mr. Bush every morning on Iraq andAfghanistan, then prod cabinet secretaries into carrying out WhiteHouse orders.

This is quite unprecedented.  Back when our nation was founded, George Washington had a Secretary of War -- but that is otherwise known as the Defense Secretary.

Bush's establishment of the War Czar position makes me wonder whether the President is not on good terms with Robert Gates.  Let me put it this way: if Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz were still around in the Pentagon, do you really think Bush would be pushing for this war czar position?

I would say probably not.

Robert Gates, like him or not, is from the realist school of thought.  Comparatively speaking, he is as non-ideological as they come -- a complete clash with people like Cheney.  The Pentagon is supposed to run the war.  So why would the White House ask the Pentagon to relinquish some of its powers to a new cabinet level position unless Bush was not on good terms with Gates and the generals?  This War Czar will put restraints on the Pentagon's access to the President.  Maybe restraining Gates' influence is something that Dick Cheney wants.

Comments

[George]

YES! This is it! This is the whole problem - we dont have a war czar.

[George]

Oh! I nominate Rumsfeld.

[EvilleMike]

One possibility is that Bush knows he has to put more distance between himself and the war in Iraq. Part of his spat with Congress over funding and timelines has a lot to do with who ends up "owning the war". If he delegates responsibility for Iraq to a War Czar, then he can walk away leaving this new patsy holding the bag.

Another possibility is that his hand is being forced somehow - which opens up the all kinds of weirdly delicious opportunities for palace intrigue.