Editorial: No ducking responsibility

Friday, April 13, 2007 | 7:11 a.m.

P residents Richard Nixon, Gerald Ford and Jimmy Carter appointed energy czars. Presidents George H.W. Bush and Bill Clinton appointed drug czars. Now President George W. Bush wants to appoint a war czar.

Sources unearthed by The Washington Post said that at least three retired generals had been approached by the White House and that they had declined the job. The newspaper contacted all three .

One declined to comment, but the other two, retired Marine Gen. John Sheehan and retired Army Gen. Jack Keane, confirmed that they had been approached and that they had ruled out the job.

Sheehan expressed his view on why the new position is being considered:

"The very fundamental issue is, they don't know where the hell they are going," he said, referring to President Bush and administration officials who are advising him on the war.

The Post said Sheehan did not envision himself experiencing anything but frustration if he took the job. He told the newspaper that he believes that Vice President Dick Cheney and his cadre of war hawks have more influence over the White House than anyone in the administration looking for ways to end the war.

"So rather than go over there, develop an ulcer and eventually leave, I said, 'No thanks,' " Sheehan told the Post.

A war czar ostensibly would report directly to Bush and have authority over all federal agencies and departments with roles in the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. In our view, the desire by the White House to create such a position speaks volumes about its desperation.

Although President Bush must realize it, he will never admit publicly just how badly he and then-Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld bungled both wars, particularly the Iraq war. How convenient it would be to have a fall guy, er, war czar.

The nation does not need a war czar. It already has one - the president, who is supposed to be the commander in chief. And, in the end, it is George W. Bush who must bear history's judgment about how these wars were planned and led.