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Army Lieutenant General '''Douglas E. Lute''' was [http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2007/05/20070515-10.html named] May 15, 2007, by President [[George W. Bush]] as Assistant to the President and Deputy National Security Advisor for Iraq and Afghanistan. In that position, Lute is "charged with coordinating the efforts of the Executive Branch to support our commanders and senior diplomats on the ground in [[Iraq]] and [[Afghanistan]]," the White House announcement stated.

===[[Al Qaeda]] will retreat to Africa===On August 24, 2005, Lute "predicted that al-Qaida fighters in Iraq will move to the 'vast ungoverned spaces' of the [[Horn of Africa]] once conditions in [Iraq] get too tough for them." [http://www.guardian.co.uk/alqaida/story/0,12469,1555838,00.html?gusrc=rss ] Speaking of [[Abu Musab al-Zarqawi]], the Jordanian-born Islamist who "claimed responsibility for numerous attacks, kidnappings and beheadings", Lute said "There will come a time when Zarqawi will face too much resistance in Iraq and will move on." Lute predicted that Zarqawi "would take the 'path of least resistance' and leave for such countries as [[Sudan]], [[Ethiopia]] and [[Somalia]]." [http://www.guardian.co.uk/alqaida/story/0,12469,1555838,00.html?gusrc=rss] ===[[Exit Strategy from Iraq]]===On August 23, 2005, Lute, then director Director of operations Operations at [[U.S. Central Command]] and "the general responsible for near-term planning" in Iraq, said that the US was "expected to pull significant numbers of troops out of Iraq in the next 12 months in spite of the [[civil war in Iraq|continuing violence]]" and that "the reductions were part of a push by Gen [[John Abizaid]], commander of all US troops in the region, to put the burden of defending Iraq on Iraqi forces." Lute also "denied the withdrawal was motivated by political pressure from Washington." [http://www.ft.com/cms/s/9f81fef2-14de-11da-9df1-00000e2511c8.html]

==Question of effectiveness=[[Iraqi insurgency]] and first Iraqi elections===On February 9, 2005, Lutewas interviewed by CNN's Paula Zahn, 54, currently serving as director of the who asked Lute about Sen. [[Joint Chiefs of StaffJohn McCain]]'s "point that insurgents have worked their way into Iraqi forces." :LUTE: ... this goes very much to our primary effort for 2005 and that is to enhance the quality of Iraqi forces. ... seven months ago there was no Iraqi army, "there were no Iraqi commando battalions. There was selected after several prominent retired generals turned down offers or overtures very little that could be called an Iraqi police force. We've made a great deal of progress in the last seven months. But this is still an immature emerging force. Things like infiltration by insurgents, things like sharing intelligence, developing their own intelligence, and developing a coherent chain of command are all things that we're working on for this calendar year.  :ZAHN: So how long do you think it will take for those troops to operate at a level that you would consider satisfactory?  :LUTE: ... the most capable Iraqi formations are already operating independently at battalion level, this is 5 to 600 soldiers operating independently sometimes also operating on their own developed intelligence. So on the one end of the spectrum we have very capable Iraqi forces, some today. But not enough to become sustain the White Housefight against the counterinsurgency country-wide. That process will take all of calendar 's 05 and probably into calendar year 'war czar06.  Zahn then asked about the impact of the first Iraqi elections on the population. :LUTE: Well, first of all, it suggests that there's no immediate impact. That is that the elections themselves were not a silver bullet or a panacea that we were going to solve the insurgency.The other thing it suggests to me, Paula, is just the bravery and the incredible willingness to step forward on the election day itself which we witnessed by millions of Iraqis moving to the polling places.And further more, the support by the brother Iraqis, the security forces, in securing over 5,000 election places. [Lute] has been It suggests to me in sum that it's still a three star general only since September [2006]dangerous place, but he has deep experience in the Middle East Iraqis have demonstrated they are willing to step up. They deserve our respect and was heavily involved in the planning our support for the current that." ==On not catching Osama bin Laden at Tora Bora==In his January 2006 response on ''The Charlie Rose Show''when asked whether, "if we had done more at Tora Bora we could have gotten" [[McCain doctrine|surgeOsama bin Laden]], Lute said "you only have to walk the ground in Afghanistan near Tora bora or anyplace in the Hindu Kush region, to appreciate what a tough call that is ... to suggest... that you could get one individual in a evolving, fluid, rapidly evolving fight in ground that' of US troops to Iraqs that rugged." [http://209.85.165.104/search?q=cache:dBvThDb92yUJ:www.newssais-jhu.com.auedu/insider/pdf/story2006_articles/0,23599,21740520-1702,00mclaughlin_crs_012006.htmlpdf+%22Douglas+Lute%22&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=3&gl=us]

"Some questioned how effective a three star general would be Think of the most rugged portions of the Rocky Mountains here in managing a war effort from the White House amid four star military commanders and cabinet secretariesstates where we go on ski vacations." This is where that fight took place, at altitudes where [http://www.news.com.au/story/0our] helicopters were stressed,23599where the physical stresses on the soldiers were extreme and where the fight continued for days,21740520-1702both day and night. So it's not entirely surprising to me that one individual could escape that kind of contact,00" Lute said.html]

===Profiles===*[http://www.jcs.mil/bios/bio_lute.html Biography: Lieutenant General Douglas E. Lute, Director for Operations, J-3], Joint Staff General/Flag Officers, Joint Chiefs of Staff.  ===Articles & Commentary=======2005====*[http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0502/09/pzn.01.html Transcript: ''PAULA ZAHN NOW''], CNN: "Iraq Exit Strategy?", February 9, 2005.

====2007====*[http://usinfo.state.gov/xarchives/display.html?p=washfile-english&y=2007&m=February&x=20070209164253sjhtrop0.8450891 "Baghdad Security Unfolds with a Unified Iraqi Command Structure. U.S. officials say violence must be quelled to provide political momentum,"] U.S. Department of State, February 9, 2007.*Chidanand Rajghatta, [http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/1712591.cms "US goes public with hot pursuit in Pak,"] ''Times of India'', March 2, 2007.