War Czar

If this doesn't terrify you, you're not paying attention.

The only thing this story can mean is that George W. Bush has acknowledged that he is not competent to continue as the Commander-in-Chief of the United States armed forces.

The White House wants to appoint a high-powered czar to oversee the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan with authority to issue directions to the Pentagon, the State Department and other agencies, but it has had trouble finding anyone able and willing to take the job, according to people close to the situation.

[...]

The White House has not publicly disclosed its interest in creating the position, hoping to find someone President Bush can anoint and announce for the post all at once. Officials said they are still considering options for how to reorganize the White House's management of the two conflicts. If they cannot find a person suited for the sort of specially empowered office they envision, they said, they may have to retain the current structure.

They may have to retain the current structure? Would that be the one outlined in the Constitution of the United States under which the President is the Commander-in-Chief of our military? That "structure" isn't working?

Not surprisingly, three retired generals the administration has approached about the job said, "no thanks."

"The very fundamental issue is, they don't know where the hell they're going," said retired Marine Gen. John J. "Jack" Sheehan, a former top NATO commander who was among those rejecting the job. Sheehan said he believes that Vice President Cheney and his hawkish allies remain more powerful within the administration than pragmatists looking for a way out of Iraq. "So rather than go over there, develop an ulcer and eventually leave, I said, 'No, thanks,' " he said.

The Bush administration just confirmed everything their critics are saying about their management of the occupation of Iraq: they have no idea what they are doing. The situation is so grave that they are trying to configure an extra-constitutional command structure to remove the president from the chain of command.

God help us.