Lute to Referee Between State, Pentagon

In this photo released by the Department of Defense, U.S. Army Lt. Gen. Douglas Lute, director for operations, the Joint Staff, conducts a Pentagon operational update briefing Feb. 9, 2007, in Washington. According to an administration official President Bush on May 15, 2007, chose Lute to oversee the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan as "war czar."(AP Photo/Department of Defense, Helene C. Stikkel) (Helene C. Stikkel - AP)

Gordon Johndroe, spokesman for the White House's National Security Council, said Lute made sure that national security adviser Stephen Hadley knew of his earlier doubts, but Lute now believes it is the correct strategy.

Lute would serve as an assistant to the president and deputy national security adviser, maintaining his military status and rank as a three-star general.

It is no secret that as the White House struggled for months to find someone for the job, some retired generals were offered the post and turned it down.

As an active-duty general, Lute would have found it harder to say no.

The choice of a uniformed czar has raised concerns about a tilt even more toward the military when there is agreement about the need to do more on the political and economic fronts in Iraq.

Military officials discussing the job said it leave Lute with no budget, no clear policy role, no command authority and the excruciating duty of delivering the president's initiatives to generals who outrank Lute.

Defense Department spokesman Bryan Whitman said Lute will have the authority he needs.

Nash said Lute, as a "relatively junior office," will have a "Clash of the Titans" struggle involving the secretaries of defense, state, treasury and others departments and deal with higher-ranking service chiefs and commanders in the field.

But, he added, the White House job should give Lute good access to Bush as well as Vice President Dick Cheney _ and "that should trump all."

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EDITORS NOTE: Associated Press writers Jim Krane in Dubai, United Arab Emirates; Garentina Kraja in Pristina, Serbia; and Anne Gearan and Lolita C. Baldor in Washington contributed to this report.