Baghdad City Cop

Wall Street Journal ^ | Sept 24, 2003 | BERNARD B. KERIK

[The Raven]

Welcome to a free Iraq" is what Jerry Bremer, administrator for the Coalition Provisional Authority, said to me as he reached out to shake my hand when I arrived in Baghdad four months ago. I'm still moved by those words as I say them myself, "Welcome to a free Iraq," just as I was moved yesterday by President Bush -- under pressure at home and abroad -- standing firmly by our nation-building project in his U.N. speech.

[Coop]

BTTT

[finnman69]

New Yorkers will remember that it took the Giuliani administration eight years to create the safest large city in the world and that was with every resource under the sun. Five months ago in Iraq, we adopted a country of 24 million, with no electricity, water, technology, Internet, telephones or radio communications, etc. There was nothing, and yet the critics are saying that it's taking too long. One would think that they themselves have the answer, or the magic pill that will fix it all, but unfortunately, there isn't one! It's always easier to criticize -- as some Congressional delegations in Iraq are prone to do -- when you have no operational involvement, insight, authority or responsibility. And to those critics who think the answer is the deployment of more U.S. troops, I say: Caution!

[finnman69]

Best article Iraq yet.