The War Czar: A WTF? Moment

I guess being the Deciderer is just too hard. I guess next we'll be hearing stories about a czar-czar.

At least three retired four-star generals approached by the White House in recent weeks have declined to be considered for the position, the sources said, underscoring the administration's difficulty in enlisting its top recruits to join the team after five years of warfare that have taxed the United States and its military.

"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.

Retired four-star generals are too smart to fall for a set-up like that.

(No, the link truly is to WaPo, not The Onion.)

(It's no wonder I have trouble writing fiction -- real life is far more surreal than anything I can come up with.)