Coming Soon to Craig's List? White House Looks to Fill War Czar Job

April 11, 2007 — -- Wanted: smart, experienced, high-profile military official or civilian to coordinate ongoing operations in Iraq and Afghanistan. Significant access to president and national security adviser. Long hours. Please send resume and references.

Sounds ridiculous to imagine the White House taking out such an ad, but right now the Bush administration is having trouble filling what would be a new senior position.

The White House is considering a position of "war czar" -- a senior official on the National Security Council who would coordinate the operations in Iraq and Afghanistan and report directly to President Bush and national security adviser Stephen Hadley.

The Washington Post reported this morning that at least three retired four-star generals turned down an offer from the White House to head up this coordinated effort.

The White House said today that nobody had been offered the job. ABC News confirmed that retired Marine Gen. John "Jack" Sheehan and retired Army Gen Jack Keane told the White House they were not interested in the position.

Prompting these discussions is the departure of Meghan O'Sullivan, the highest-ranking National Security Council official on Iraq and Afghanistan.

"This idea for a restructuring is one that comes at a time that after six years, when Meghan O'Sullivan has said that it's time for her to move on from public service, that it's natural we would consider how best to make sure that that office is most effective," White House spokeswoman Dana Perino said today.

O'Sullivan reports directly to national security adviser Stephen Hadley. The new war czar would report to Bush, and Hadley and would coordinate with Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Secretary of Defense Robert Gates.  The position would include O'Sullivan's responsibilities as well as additional authority over Cabinet officials. This new NSC official would have authority over various government agencies, such as the Departments of State, Defense, Justice and the Treasury, and the power to direct resources to Iraq.

Sheehan told the White House in a letter last month that he is the wrong person for the job because he has "never been comfortable with the basis for the war" and does not think the president would be "well served by someone who remains skeptical" about the war in Iraq.

Sheehan told ABC News that he was not formally offered the position but was asked to meet with Rice and Gates.

Keane confirmed to ABC News that the White House asked him to take this position and that he was initially was approached by the vice president's office and then later by Hadley. Keane said he turned the position down for personal reasons, rather than misgivings about policy. But he said he believes that the position is a necessary one.

"We need somebody there who speaks for the president, has the authority to direct things," he said. "They have to be able to tell the other government agencies what to do at times and also monitor what has taken place and the kind of fixes that have to be made to their execution." White House spokeswoman Perino said today the discussion is "very much in its nascent stages" and the position is "under consideration." She said while there have been discussions and consultations, no decisions have been made about bringing in a high-profile official to fill this role.

"It would be a little bit like putting the cart before the horse if we were to say that that is a done deal because no one's been offered the job," Perino said.

Perino could not say today who came up with the idea of creating this position.

The whole idea is a bad one and a sign of desperation, said Kurt Campbell, CEO at the Center for New American Security and a former Pentagon official in the Clinton administration. Campbell said the White House's consideration of this position is an indication that things are going poorly in Iraq and in Washington.

"The fact that after four long years they're finally turning to a person to play the role that essentially the National Security Council is supposed to play is indeed a sign that things are not working at all well," Campbell said. "Iraq is the president's signature endeavor, and if it looks to his supporters as if he's rooting around for new bureaucratic approaches and, in fact, may not have an overreaching strategy, then it causes great anxiety across the board."

Rep. Rahm Emanuel, D-Ill., got in a jab on the matter in a statement today, saying it is time for the White House to get up to speed in its search to fill this role.

"Someone needs to tell Steve Hadley that position is filled, It's the commander in chief, unless the decider's become the delegator," Emanuel said.

White House spokeswoman Perino took issue with this statement, calling it "a cheap political shot."