UNITED NATIONS - Wanted by the White House: High-profile official to oversee the Iraq and Afghanistan conflict.
But it seems the Bush administration is having trouble convincing even one-time supporters to take the proposed job as "war czar."
At least three four-star generals approached by the White House spurned offers to be considered for the new job, with one saying there's no point as long as "hawks" like Vice-President Dick Cheney still hold sway with the president.
"The very fundamental issue is, they don't know where the hell they are going," John Sheehan, a retired marine general, told the Washington Post, which describes the three generals the White House contacted as "administration insiders."
"There's the residue of the Cheney view -'We're going to win, al-Qaida's there' -that justifies anything we did. And there's the pragmatist view -'How the hell do we get out of Dodge and survive?'
"Unfortunately, the people with the former view are still in positions of most influence."
The White House's hiring difficulties emerged Wednesday amid other war-related problems.
The Pentagon announced active-army units deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan would see their tours of duty extended from 12 to 15 months to consolidate the troop "surge" U.S. President George W. Bush announced in January as a way to halt sectarian violence in Iraq. In Geneva, meanwhile, the International Committee of the Red Cross issued a report describing a "worsening" humanitarian situation in Iraq despite the surge.
With public approval ratings of the administration's war policies at all-time lows, U.S National Security Council spokesman Gordon Johndroe confirmed Bush is seeking someone who can improve co-ordination of military and civilian efforts in Iraq and Afghanistan.
