Washington – President Bush has chosen Lt. Gen. Douglas Lute, the Pentagon’s director of operations, to oversee fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan as a “war czar” after a long search for new leadership, administration officials said Tuesday.
The search was complicated by demands from Congress to bring U.S. troops home from Iraq and low public support for the war. The White House tried for weeks to fill the position and approached numerous candidates before settling on Lute, 54.
The appointment is subject to Senate confirmation.
In the newly created position, Lute would serve as an assistant to the president and deputy national security adviser and would maintain his military status and rank as a three-star general, according to a Pentagon official. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because Bush had not yet made an announcement.
Lute became director of operations for the Joint Chiefs of Staff in September. Before that, he served for more than two years as director of operations at U.S. Central Command, during which he oversaw combat operations in Iraq and Afghanistan, along with other regions.
A West Point graduate, Lute fought in the 1991 Persian Gulf War. He also served in Kosovo in 2002 before being assigned to the U.S. European Command in January 2003.
