New man in Iraq
Law, order and above all the making of a country are the main duties for the US's new presidential envoy to Iraq, Paul Bremer. Anayat Durrani tells the story of the man
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With the fall of Saddam Hussein and the Ba'ath Party government, the United States has been eager to unleash and apply its designs for a new and democratic Iraq. President George Bush has now placed the task on former State Department Counterterrorism Chief L Paul Bremer, III, naming him top civil administrator in Iraq.
President Bush announced Bremer's appointment as the presidential envoy to Iraq at the Oval Office last Tuesday. Bush called Bremer "a man with enormous experience -- a can-do type of person," and said he had "full confidence" in his ability to establish an interim government in Iraq. Bush said Bremer "shares the same values as most Americans share, and that is our deep desire to have an orderly country in Iraq that is free and at peace, where the average citizen has a chance to achieve his or her dreams." Bremer faces the difficult task of overseeing the restoration of a new government in Iraq after three decades of dictatorship. Bremer will restore law and order and basic services to the Iraqi people as well as determine which Iraqis to place in the interim administration. The Bush administration has said this government would ensure a variety of Iraqi groups be represented in the new administration.
Bremer arrived in Iraq on Monday along with General Richard Myers, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, to take over the reconstruction effort from retired Army Lt Gen Jay Garner, the man Bremer is to replace. While in Qatar, Myers told reporters that the former regime has been completely dismantled, paving the way for a new Iraqi government. "There is absolutely no chance that Saddam Hussein and his Ba'athist Party or those who are following Saddam Hussein are ever going to come to power again in Iraq," he said.
Bremer will take over the reigns from Garner, head of the Office of Reconstruction and Humanitarian Aid, who has spent the last three weeks in Iraq overseeing the reconstruction of the country. Other top members assigned to the reconstruction effort, including Barbara Bodine, have also been relieved of their duties in Iraq. Bodine served as the effective post-war mayor of Baghdad responsible for getting Baghdad and central Iraq up and running again. She will take a senior post at the State Department in Washington, according to the Washington Post. The departure of Garner and Bodine and appointment of Bremer comes after mounting criticism in Washington, over what is seen as slow progress and faulty planning of the reconstruction effort in Iraq.
Bush's choice of Bremer as the man to put into place a democratic Iraq serves also to mend a rift between the State and Defence Departments, both espousing opposing plans for running Iraq. Secretary of State Colin Powell had advocated more civilian control, while Defence Secretary Donald H Rumsfeld had sought a stronger role for the military. Bremer, who will serve as the "senior coalition official in Iraq", will report to Secretary of Defence Donald Rumsfeld. Rumsfeld has described Bremer as a "friend and an enormously talented person". The Washington Post reported that Bremer is "described as a hard-nosed hawk who is close to the neo-conservative wing of the Pentagon. He is supported by Rumsfeld and Deputy Defence Secretary Paul D Wolfowitz, officials said, and White House aides said the appointment affirms Bush's satisfaction with Pentagon control over Iraq until a new government is in place."
Bremer, 61, a former foreign service officer, comes with a background in counterterrorism and diplomacy. He served 23 years of service in the US Diplomatic Corps under six Secretaries of State, and for 11 years he was managing director of Kissinger & Associates. In 1983, Bremer was named ambassador to the Netherlands, and in 1986, President Reagan appointed him ambassador- at-large for Counter Terrorism. In 1999, Speaker Hastert appointed him as chairman of the National Commission on Terrorism. In late 2001, along with former Attorney General Edwin Meese he co-chaired the Heritage Foundation's Homeland Security Task Force, which created a blueprint for the White House's Department of Homeland Security. Bremer was recently the chairman and CEO of Marsh Crisis Consulting.
Meanwhile, Central Command Chief General Tommy Franks announced Sunday that Saddam Hussein's Ba'ath Party has been dismantled. A statement read in Arabic on a coalition radio Sunday said, "The Iraqi Ba'ath Socialist Party is dissolved." Franks urged remaining Ba'ath members to cease activities. Franks' statement also urged Iraqis to collect material about the Ba'ath Party and submit them to coalition officials.
