General John Sheehan: I don't want to be no stinking war czar

Recently, Dubya decided he needed a war czar to oversee both Afghanistan and Iraq, ostensibly called the White House implementation manager. Three high-ranking generals were offered the position and said thanks, but uh, no thanks.

John J. Sheehan, USMC ret., explains why in a WaPo editorial today. He writes:

The [most important] strategy [in Iraq] takes a larger view of the region and the desired end state. Simply put, where does Iraq fit in a larger regional context? The United States has and will continue to have strategic interests in the greater Middle East well after the Iraq crisis is resolved and, as a matter of national interest, will maintain forces in the region in some form. The Iraq invasion has created a real and existential crisis for nearly all Middle Eastern countries and created divisions among our traditional European allies, making cooperation on other issues more difficult. In the case of Iran, we have allowed Tehran to develop more policy options and tools than it had a few years ago. Iran is an ideological and destabilizing threat to its neighbors and, more important, to U.S. interests.

Of the three strategies in play, the third is the most important but, unfortunately, is the least developed and articulated by this administration.

So there you have it. General Sheehan doesn't believe the administration has a plan for winning in Iraq. I believe him because I frankly have no idea what a win in Iraq will look like.