Posted on 10/07/2004 10:01:06 PM PDT by neverdem
OP-ED CONTRIBUTOR
In recent days, attention has been focused on some remarks I've made about Iraq. The coverage of these remarks has elicited far more heat than light, so I believe it's important to put my remarks in the correct context.
In my speeches, I have said that the United States paid a price for not stopping the looting in Iraq in the immediate aftermath of major combat operations and that we did not have enough troops on the ground to accomplish that task. The press and critics of the war have seized on these remarks in an effort to undermine President Bush's Iraq policy.
This effort won't succeed. Let me explain why.
It's no secret that during my time in Iraq I had tactical disagreements with others, including military commanders on the ground. Such disagreements among individuals of good will happen all the time, particularly in war and postwar situations. I believe it would have been helpful to have had more troops early on to stop the looting that did so much damage to Iraq's already decrepit infrastructure. The military commanders believed we had enough American troops in Iraq and that having a larger American military presence would have been counterproductive because it would have alienated Iraqis. That was a reasonable point of view, and it may have been right. The truth is that we'll never know.
But during the 14 months I was in Iraq, the administration, the military and I all agreed that the coalition's top priority was a broad, sustained effort to train Iraqis to take more responsibility for their own security. This effort, financed in large measure by the emergency supplemental budget approved by Congress last year, continues today. In the end, Iraq's security must depend on Iraqis.
Our troops continue to work closely with Iraqis to isolate and destroy terrorist strongholds. And the United States is supporting Prime Minister Ayad Allawi in his determined effort to bring security and democracy to Iraq. Elections will be held in January and, though there will be challenges and hardships, progress is being made. For the task before us now, I believe we have enough troops in Iraq.
The press has been curiously reluctant to report my constant public support for the president's strategy in Iraq and his policies to fight terrorism. I have been involved in the war on terrorism for two decades, and in my view no world leader has better understood the stakes in this global war than President Bush.
The president was right when he concluded that Saddam Hussein was a menace who needed to be removed from power. He understands that our enemies are not confined to Al Qaeda, and certainly not just to Osama bin Laden, who is probably trapped in his hide-out in Afghanistan. As the bipartisan 9/11 commission reported, there were contacts between Al Qaeda and Saddam Hussein's regime going back a decade. We will win the war against global terror only by staying on the offensive and confronting terrorists and state sponsors of terror - wherever they are. Right now, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, a Qaeda ally, is a dangerous threat. He is in Iraq.
President Bush has said that Iraq is the central front in the war on terror. He is right. Mr. Zarqawi's stated goal is to kill Americans, set off a sectarian war in Iraq and defeat democracy there. He is our enemy.
Our victory also depends on devoting the resources necessary to win this war. So last year, President Bush asked the American people to make available $87 billion for military and reconstruction operations in Iraq and Afghanistan. The military commanders and I strongly agreed on the importance of these funds, which is why we stood together before Congress to make the case for their approval. The overwhelming majority of Congress understood and provided the funds needed to fight the war and win the peace in Iraq and Afghanistan. These were vital resources that Senator John Kerry voted to deny our troops.
Mr. Kerry is free to quote my comments about Iraq. But for the sake of honesty he should also point out that I have repeatedly said, including in all my speeches in recent weeks, that President Bush made a correct and courageous decision to liberate Iraq from Saddam Hussein's brutality, and that the president is correct to see the war in Iraq as a central front in the war on terrorism.
A year and a half ago, President Bush asked me to come to the Oval Office to discuss my going to Iraq to head the coalition authority. He asked me bluntly, "Why would you want to leave private life and take on such a difficult, dangerous and probably thankless job?" Without hesitation, I answered, "Because I believe in your vision for Iraq and would be honored to help you make it a reality." Today America and the coalition are making steady progress toward that vision.
L. Paul Bremer III, former chairman of the National Commission on Terrorism, was the administrator of the Coalition Provisional Authority in Iraq from May 2003 to June 2004.
Bremer was not misquoted.
He should have kept his ass off the speaker's circuit until after the election. He's done damage to Bush's re-election efforts. How much, we don't know yet.
HA, take that, Kerry.
Very well Put!!!
Oct. is national sarcastic awareness month.
"But I see something different. They are just feeding out more rope. Every time the Dems take one comment and run with it they later have to eat their words."
And we get to yell "FLIP FLOP!" again......
BUMP!
I suppose it's the first time he's pointed a finger at GWB and I hope he has the guts to repeat that tonight as well as his claim that he never called the President a liar.
It works. This is a forceful statement.
Our enemy is predictable.
It is good to be able to stand on the far more encouraging truth, than to wade in the sewer, blindly following lies, doing the bidding of an enemy who tried to murder over 35,000 civilians at the WTC on 911, and hates our very souls.
Our press has been using their Vietnam playbook since before the first ANSWER blood money rent-a-rally gave Germany and France an excuse to pull promised support in troops and $$$ before we marched to Baghdad.
This is not Vietnam.
The enemy can't silence hundreds of thousands of brave troops and civilian workers - working across the nation of Iraq (not parked at the bar at the Palestine Hotel in Baghdad where our enemies know where to find them).
The enemy can't silence millions of newly freed Iraqis with cell phones and internet access.
This isn't Vietnam.
Now we know. Walter Cronkite and a few reporters aren't the only ones with access to primary news sources.
By not looking past the mainstream press for the truth today, by believing the spin, we are accomplices, aiding our enemy.
What excuse could we give for yet another betrayal of another generation of noble veterans?
How could we face their children?
Caught a portion of IMUS talking to Russert this morning both chuckling that Bremer was caught with his pants down and is trying his utmost to correct the record. If we're to correct the record IMUS, ask your friend Russert to explain why he, as well as his cohorts at NBC (Matthews/Williams) refuse to tell the public what the FULL exchange was with Cheney on MTP.
Ambassador L. Paul Bremer, administrator for the U.S.-led occupation government until the handover of political power on June 28, said he still supports the decision to intervene in Iraq but said a lack of adequate forces hampered the occupation and efforts to end the looting early on.
"We paid a big price for not stopping it because it established an atmosphere of lawlessness," he said yesterday in a speech at an insurance conference in White Sulphur Springs, W.Va. "We never had enough troops on the ground."
Bremer's comments were striking because they echoed contentions of many administration critics, including Democratic presidential nominee John F. Kerry, who argue that the U.S. government failed to plan adequately to maintain security in Iraq after the invasion. Bremer has generally defended the U.S. approach in Iraq but in recent weeks has begun to criticize the administration for tactical and policy shortfalls.
In a Sept. 17 speech at DePauw University, Bremer said he frequently raised the issue within the administration and "should have been even more insistent" when his advice was spurned because the situation in Iraq might be different today. "The single most important change -- the one thing that would have improved the situation -- would have been having more troops in Iraq at the beginning and throughout" the occupation, Bremer said, according to the Banner-Graphic in Greencastle, Ind.
A Bremer aide said that his speeches were intended for private audiences and were supposed to have been off the record. Yesterday, however, excerpts of his remarks -- given at the Greenbrier resort at an annual meeting sponsored by the Council of Insurance Agents and Brokers -- were distributed in a news release by the conference organizers.
In a statement late last night, Bremer stressed that he fully supports the administration's plan for training Iraqi security forces as well as its overall strategy for Iraq.
"I believe that we currently have sufficient troop levels in Iraq," he said in an e-mailed statement. He said all references in recent speeches to troop levels related to the situation when he arrived in Baghdad in May 2003 -- "and when I believed we needed either more coalition troops or Iraqi security forces to address the looting."
He said that, to address the problem, the occupation government developed a plan that is still in place under the new interim Iraqi government.
Bremer also said he believes winning the war in Iraq is an "integral part of fighting this war on terror." He added that he "strongly supports" President Bush's reelection.
He understands that our enemies are not confined to Al Qaeda, and certainly not just to Osama bin Laden, who is probably trapped in his hide-out in Afghanistan. As the bipartisan 9/11 commission reported, there were contacts between Al Qaeda and Saddam Hussein's regime going back a decade.Bears repeating.
Excellent article by Bremer.
It's amazing and yet I'm virtually certainly that Kerry will continue to misquote Bremer and take his comments out of context.
Ha! LOL!
They keep making it worse. STFU.
So now, it appears that Bremer has a public opinion of the war and a private opinion of the war. Today's public statement by Bremer now pales because the aide has a big mouth, too.
I think Bush will be more prepared tonight. Somewhere I read that Rove said that in October shock and awe was coming against Kerry. Whether he meant tonight or not, I don't know.
If you haven't read Freeper Mr. Silverback's excellent letter to the editor about Kerry, I highly recommend it. It is simply the best letter I have ever read about anyone, ever.
http://freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1237972/posts
Bump! Nice post and points well taken!
the damage 'sound bite' has already left the building. He should have been a pro to begin with and dropped the criticism until after the election. If I remember correctly, Jay Garner of the Garner Group, was the man on scene during the 'looting' and Bremer wasn't in-country yet. His criticism should be weighed accordingly.
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