No Takers For Bush "War Czar"

The Skinny: Top Generals Not Interested In Becoming Overseer Of U.S. War Efforts

(CBS)  The Skinny is Joel Roberts' take on the top news of the day and the best of the Internet.

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The Bush administration is seeking a "war czar" to oversee the U.S. efforts in Iraq and Afghanistan. But so far, the Washington Post reports, it's having a hard time finding anyone willing to take the job.

At least three retired four-star generals, the Post says, have been approached by the White House, but all declined to be considered for the high-powered position, highlighting the administration's problems in convincing "top recruits to join the team after five years of warfare that have taxed the United States and its military."

One of those who spurned the job, retired Marine Gen. John J. "Jack" Sheehan, was outspoken about his reasons for turning it down.

"The very fundamental issue is, they don't know where the hell they're going," said Sheehan, a former top NATO commander. Sheehan said he believes that hawks like Vice President Cheney have more influence in the White House than those looking for a way out of Iraq. "So rather than go over there, develop an ulcer and eventually leave, I said, 'No, thanks.' "

Sources said the others contacted by the White House were Army Gen. Jack Keane and retired Air Force Gen. Joseph W. Ralston, who both said they were not interested.

The idea for creating the new position follows concern over longstanding disputes between civilian and military officials in Iraq. The war czar would have the authority to issue directions to the Pentagon, State Department and other agencies.

Panel Revises Voter Fraud Findings

A federal panel apparently altered its conclusions on the prevalence of voter fraud to more closely reflect a position championed by Republicans, according to a report in Wednesday's New York Times.

The panel, the Election Assistance Commission, issued a report to the public which said there is "a great deal of debate on the pervasiveness of fraud." But the original version of the report, which was obtained by the Times, said that most experts felt there was "little polling place fraud."

Republicans have long claimed that voter fraud is widespread and have used this argument to justify voter ID requirements that have become law in at least two dozen states. Democrats, on the other hand, say voter fraud is rare and oppose the voter ID laws, which they say primarily target minorities, the poor and the elderly -- who are less likely to have the proper IDs, and tend to vote Democratic.

The Times says the same election panel also came under fire two weeks ago for refusing to release another report on voter ID laws. That report, which was finally released after pressure from Congress, found that voter ID laws designed to fight fraud "can reduce turnout, particularly among members of minorities."

The issue of voter fraud has come up recently in the investigation of the Bush administration's firings of eight U.S. Attorneys, several of whom, critics charge, were dismissed for failing to aggressively pursue voter fraud cases.

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[long_rider]

What happened to the position of Sec. of Defense? Rummy was the war Czar, why not let him have it back.

Oh God! Why doesn't someone grow a brain and start an Impeachment process.

The people and elected officials are just sellin g this country of ours down the drain.

[waynabq]

John Wooden, the legendary UCLA basketball coach said surround yourself with smart people who will argue with you.

Bush has done the complete opposite, he's ignored everyone who ever gave him good advice, for instance, Paul O' Neil his first treasury secretary told him the deficit would explode if he went forward with his tax cuts and one time $300 rebate checks and five years later, the National debt has ballooned to almost 9 Trillion dollars and increasing by the second.

Bush also fired Richard Clarke his terrorism advisor who told him invading Iraq was folly and would play right into Bin Ladin's hands.

Five years later, 27,000 dead and wounded troops and 600,000 dead Iraqi civilians at a cost of $450 billion and getting worse as we speak.

Then there's the attorney general, Alberto Gonzalez who "serves at the President's pleasure", that sounds disgutingly homoerotic. I
thought the attorney general was supposed to impartially enforce the law and protect our Constitution not serve as Bush's court jester.

[drinuk]

I'll take the job ! Put all the lads and lasses on a nice cruise boat, give 'em a really nice time as we sail back across the Atlantic, then upon arriving back...Attack Washington. The same in London, March down Whitehall and do a Oliver Cromwell at the Palace of Westminster. We have surely had quite enough of all this C R A P. When do I start ?

[drinuk]

I'll take the job ! Put all the lads and lasses on a nice cruise boat, give 'em a really nice time as we sail back across the Atlantic, then upon arriving back...Attack Washington. The same in London, March down Whitehall and do a Oliver Cromwell at the Palace of Westminster. We have surely had quite enough of all this C R A P. When do I start ?

[jjp735i]

I am tired of the need for the use of the word "Czar". We do not need a "Czar" anything.

How many department heads does a department need? If the one in charge is not doing his/her job, remove them. Don't create a job to be the boss of the boss.

War Czar, Drug Czar, hell just replace the king we have now with a Czar. Get it over with.

[condumism]

C'mon GOPigs, you fascists should be proud to serve this Nazi Bush and his lies to war. Just imagine, you'll get to coordinate the bombing of Afghan weddings using the sophisticated US Air Force, then lie as your leader and say that there were terrorists in attendance. Then you'll get to say you forgot forget everything that you've done when called to testify before the Democratic Majority in Congress, same as Ronald Reagan. This War Czar job also gaurantees that you'll also get to hire only your friends. This has got to be a dream come true job for millions of you Fascist GOPigs!

[observantx]

"War Czar"

Utterly laughable. We've had too many "war czars" as it is. We've had Rummy, and we've had GeorgenDick all along plus all the king's horses and all the king's men.

Now that Humpty is in pieces, leaking into the ground and beginning to stink, nobody wants to get anywhere near the utter mess that our fledgling dictator has made.

No way, George. No way are you going to pawn this reeking pile of crime and folly onto anyone else. It's all yours. You wanted it so badly, and now you have it. Be prepared to have your name irrevocably linked to this failure, this crime, this criminal misuse of power.

You're toast.

[mizpah63]

Karl Rove is the creature for the War Czar job. Karl lacks any moral fiber--including a single thread of conscience--spins lies with aplomb, leads *** and George around with ease, gives Tony snow jobs, never served in the military, skulks the halls of Congress and the White House, already has an established office from which to peddle the propaganda, and is a college drop out. Perfect!

[weneedchange]

MJV2944: Do you REALLY expect more Iranians need to step in, and take over Iraq ??????????

The obvious solution to Bush's predicament %u2013 and ours -- is to (1) make Cheney that "CZAR"; (2) send him into the heart of Baghdad armed with a .22 pistol and his hunter cammo, on the back of which is a well-marked "Bullseye" target -- and "US" marked all over the rest; (3) let him take Carl Rove along as a "Seeing Eye" dog.

If either survives more than a few hours, they%u2019re likely to re-examine merits of being a %u201CHawk%u201D !!!

But if this doesn%u2019t work, they can next be assigned to search the %u201Chills%u201D along the border of Pakistan and Afghanistan for Bin Laden. Bush hasn%u2019t been repeating his promises about getting that guy, in recent months .....

[kansas1946]

I would be really worried about any military person that would take this job. It would show a degree of insanity. Bush has never listened to any general that didn't agree with his failed idea and policy, and he won't listen now. His plan isn't working, has never worked, and will never work. So why would anyone want to tarnish their career to take on something that is doomed to failure. They would be crazy, really. Maybe Rove will take it.

[mjv2944]

Hell I'll do it but from my first day the word will be THERE ARE NO RULES OF ENGAGEMENT, WE WILL FIGHT TO WIN OR BE GONE BY NEXT SPRING. The People of Iran need to step up and start to take charge. Enough is enough, do what ever it takes to win, it will get real ugly but we down to that.

[hypnotoad72]

I'd volunteer. We're in a mess, but the last thing we need is cynicism. We need ideas, even off-the-wall ones. Brainstorming.

Hell, I'd love to work on fighting global warming and other scientific endeavors, but that's another topic.

Anybody who puts their mind to something can only make positive progress; even if it's minutes.

And BTW, the dollar rose against the yen today. I don't think a crash is in store any time soon, but life is what we make of it. Instead of worrying and being pessimistic, let's at least TRY to fix the problems.

[candojj1]

Why 10 countries of USSR are in NATO & why Bush wants to dismantle Russia. To understand US foreign policy since the onset of the Bush-Cheney Presidency in 2001, "Eurasia is home to most of the world's politically assertive and dynamic states. All the historical pretenders to global power originated in Eurasia. The world's most populous aspirants to regional hegemony, China and India, are in Eurasia, as are all the potential political or economic challengers to American primacy. After the United States, the next six largest economies and military spenders are there, as are all but one of the world's overt nuclear powers, and all but one of the covert ones. Eurasia accounts for 75 percent of the world's population, 60 percent of its GNP, and 75 percent of its energy resources. Collectively, Eurasia's potential power overshadows even America's. Eurasia is the world's axial supercontinent. A power that dominated Eurasia would exercise decisive influence over two of the world's three most economically productive regions, Western Europe and East Asia. A glance at the map also suggests that a country dominant in Eurasia would almost automatically control the Middle East and Africa. With Eurasia now serving as the decisive geopolitical chessboard, it no longer suffices to fashion one policy for Europe and another for Asia. What happens with the distribution of power on the Eurasian landmass will be of decisive importance to America's global primacy%u2019
http://www.globalresearch.ca

[forthepeopl1]

Robert H. Jackson, US Supreme Court Justice and Lead US Prosecutor at Nuremberg War Crimes Tribunals:

"A basic provision of the Charter is that to plan, prepare, initiate, or wage a war of aggression, or a war in violation of international treaties, agreements, and assurances, or to conspire or participate in a common plan to do so, is a crime."

(the UN Charter is a treaty)

so tell me everyone even you bushie lovers

why hasn't our congress taken action.. the whole adminastration has done that...

[bluestardad]

MIKE NIFONG has displayed the true Character to become the War Czar for the Bush administration or maybe Attorney General! But he acts like a Bushie!

[candojj1]

rlake76 -

What good is an assault rifle if the dollar is worthless and you can't buy any bullets?

Have you noticed the price of gold lately?

[rlake76]

If you're interested in the post below about the Bretton-Woods Agreement, IMF, Kissinger, Neo-cons, mentally deranged liberals--then the book Dark Ages America - The Final Phase of an Empire - is a nice depressing read, thank God we still have our assault rifles, we may need them soon.

[forthepeopl1]

invent- they will if congress give in to him ill promist that..

americans are done getting it in the a/s/s and are ready to take over our government.

so let the scum bags do it. i cant wait the forth of july will come early..i hope

[inventagod]

It is almost as if the Bu$h administration is daring Americans to take back their government, to return to using the Constitution as our base.
Of course, that would mean taking to the streets, rifles in hand...

[diamtool]

The way I see it he only has a few choices:
Laura
Barney
His Dad
Cheney
JEB!
I'm sure that anyone of them would do it (ok- maybe not JEB!, He might still think he has a future)

Good luck George!
Heckuva job!