'War Czar' Concerned Over Troop Stress, Mulls Draft

Washington’s “War Czar” admits that it makes sense to a consider a military draft to relieve soldiers of repeated deployments in Iraq and Afghanistan. Lt. Gen. Douglas Lute tells NPR that the pressure point will come in spring, when Bush will have to juggle the nation's military needs versus the strain that wars are putting on US soldiers and their families.

Lute claims that “demonstrable progress” is being made on Iraq's security front, but concedes that politically the Iraqi government is still struggling. He also describes the term “War Czar” as “unfortunate,” saying that his job of facilitating work between Bush and the battlefields is “not exactly very czar-like” because he’s only in charge of about 15 people. (More War Czar stories.)