Commander Guy is still looking for a “War Czar.” Hadley says, now that they have a plan, they need someone to execute it. Ahhhhhh…… isn’t that what the military leaders are for?? The Secretary of Defense? I mean really…..how did we get through all the other wars without a “war czar?” Sounds like a fall guy to me. No wonder no one wants the job. And why is Newt Gingrich quoted in this article? Who gives a flying fuck what he thinks????

WASHINGTON - Now that the White House is searching for a “war czar,” it raises the question of who has been coordinating U.S. involvement in Iraq and Afghanistan the past four years.

A team of West Wing players led by national security adviser Stephen Hadley has tried to keep turf-conscious agencies marching in the same direction on military, political and reconstruction fronts.

A few Bush aides say privately, however, that the White House probably should have recruited someone to oversee the war effort a year ago.

Critics say the administration’s job of coordinating the war has never gone smooth enough or fast enough. And now two key members of the White House team focused on the war are leaving - Meghan O’Sullivan, who handled day-to-day coordination of Iraq, and Hadley’s deputy, J.D. Crouch.

“The problem is not broad strategy and policy, it’s that the bureaucracy is so inefficient and there’s been so little follow-up that the machine doesn’t work,” former House Speaker Newt Gingrich said.

The new job comes as Bush’s combat troop buildup is trying to bring a degree of calm in Iraq so rebuilding can take root.

“We’re at a point now where we’ve got a plan,” Hadley said. “Execution of that plan is now everything.”

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