By Andrew Gray

WASHINGTON, May 16 (Reuters) - Douglas Lute, the three-star general handed a central role in the conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan by U.S. President George W. Bush, is being dubbed a war czar but his role is more likely to be harasser-in-chief.

Lute, who was initially skeptical about the current increase of U.S. troops in Iraq, is not tasked with commanding the wars but with getting Washington to supply people and resources requested by commanders and officials in the field.

After a long search for a candidate, Bush announced on Tuesday evening that Lute, an Army lieutenant general on the Pentagon's joint staff, would become assistant to the president and deputy national security adviser for Iraq and Afghanistan.

"His job is to implement policy, not to rethink it -- at least not at this point," said Michael O'Hanlon, a military analyst at the Brookings Institution.

"The administration believes it has the right strategy and right people in place to do it," O'Hanlon said.

"What it needs, or at least what it wants, is someone to make Washington work better at ponying up the people and resources that are requested in the field, quickly and efficiently," he said.

U.S. military and defense officials often complain that other parts of their government do not contribute enough in Iraq and Afghanistan, particularly experts to reform everything from economies to agriculture and justice systems.

In one example, the Pentagon is leading an effort to revive old Iraqi state-owned factories, in part because State Department officials have been reluctant to get involved.

Military commanders see such reconstruction efforts as vital to defeating insurgents by winning over local populations with concrete improvements to everyday life.

Pentagon spokesman Bryan Whitman dismissed suggestions that Lute, who has not had a high public profile, would lack the clout to get senior officials to act.

"I think the White House made it very clear that he's going to have the authority that he needs," Whitman said.

Several retired four-star generals approached by the White House reportedly declined to be considered for the post.

SKEPTICAL ON STRATEGY

Lute is reported to have been concerned that the buildup of U.S. forces in Iraq would not be matched by more commitment from other U.S. agencies and that Iraqi leaders would neither provide their own troops nor progress with reconciliation.

National Security Adviser Stephen Hadley acknowledged Lute had initially been skeptical but said he now supported the strategy and would have the opportunity to address concerns he expressed during talks about the job.

"In some sense, he's part of the cure for the problems he was concerned about," Hadley told the Washington Post.

Anthony Cordesman, one of Washington's most prominent military analysts, said Lute was well qualified for the post.

A former director of operations for U.S. Central Command, which runs operations in the Middle East, Lute's career has been a mix of operational jobs in places like Kosovo, Germany and Saudi Arabia and postings in Washington.

But Cordesman, a scholar at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, said Lute would face big obstacles.

"The most critical single priority for change in Washington is to get qualified civilians and aid personnel into the field and support the military," he said.

"Departments and agencies have done a good job of resisting or delaying action in the past, and cannot force their best people to go to Iraq, even if they were willing to lose them."

Cordesman also said many of the biggest challenges in Iraq would be out of Lute's hands.

The Democratic majority in the U.S. Congress is pushing for a quick end to the unpopular war in Iraq and many key decisions, such as reconciliation measures, are now the responsibility of Iraqi leaders.

"If this had been done in 2002, or in 2003, the U.S. would have had far more freedom of action and Lute would have had far more flexibility," Cordesman said.

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