WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President George W. Bush, ending a long search, chose Army Lt. Gen. Douglas Lute on Tuesday as White House "war czar" for Iraq and Afghanistan to coordinate policy among sometimes competing agencies and try to implement Bush's war strategy.

If confirmed by the Senate, Lute, 54, will take on the high-profile job against a backdrop of rising Democratic criticism of the unpopular war and the failure so far of a troop buildup to halt violence that is leading to more American casualties.
"General Lute is a tremendously accomplished military leader who understands war and government and knows how to get things done," Bush said in a statement, adding that Lute will be "the full-time manager for the implementation and execution of our strategies for Iraq and Afghanistan."
The White House decided to create the beefed-up position to put a powerful voice in charge of coordinating policies with agencies including the Pentagon and the State Department, which sometimes have their own competing agendas.
A senior administration official said Lute, as deputy national security adviser for Iraq and Afghanistan policy and implementation, will report directly to the president and will work closely with Bush's national security adviser, Stephen Hadley.
Lute is a three-star general who was head of operations for the U.S. Central Command, overseeing combat operations in Iraq and Afghanistan, and has held other senior military positions.
'DISPARATE EFFORTS'
"It is an acknowledgment that we have a multifaceted effort in the war on terror and it's important that you keep coordinating these disparate efforts," said White House spokesman Tony Snow. "This is a guy with very serious experience in the region. He knows the players."
Lute's experience eclipses that of Meghan O'Sullivan, whose position he will nominally assume. O'Sullivan, 37, has a resume more akin to a policy intellectual. She reported to Hadley and did not have the power to issue orders to agencies.
Critics accused Bush of relinquishing the role himself four years into a war in which more than 3,300 Americans have been killed.
"It's now up to Lt. Gen. Lute to undo the president's failed policies in Iraq, and bring a heavy dose of diplomacy in the region, so we can begin to get our troops out of the Iraqi religious civil war," said Jon Soltz, an Iraq war veteran and co-founder of a political group of Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans, VoteVets.org.
Lute's appointment followed a search in which some candidates were reported to have turned down White House offers for the position.
The Washington Post reported on April 11 that at least three retired four-star generals had been approached by the White House, but all declined to be considered for the job out of concern at the direction of the war.
"The very fundamental issue is, they don't know where the hell they're going," retired Marine Gen. John J. "Jack" Sheehan, who rejected the job, told The Post at the time.
"So rather than go over there, develop an ulcer and eventually leave, I said, 'No, thanks,'" Sheehan said.
Lute -- who will need Senate confirmation for the new job -- has given past clues that he would seek a political outcome to the conflict as sought by Democrats frustrated at the Iraqi government's struggles with political reconciliation.
In 2005, he said the United States must not hesitate to hand over to the Iraqi military when it is ready and banish the appearance of occupation that may hinder political progress. You have to undercut the perception of occupation in Iraq. And it's very difficult to do that when you have 150,000-plus... foreign troops occupying the country, or in that country," he said.

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Finally someone can take the blame for this Iraq mess!

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