Bremer Criticizes Troop Levels in Iraq
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| Tue, 10-05-2004 - 9:33am |
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. intervention in Iraq was hampered early on by a lack of adequate forces and efforts to contain looting after the ouster of Saddam Hussein, according to the former U.S. administrator in Iraq.
"We paid a big price for not stopping it because it established an atmosphere of lawlessness," Paul Bremer said in a speech reported by The Washington Post on Tuesday. "We never had enough troops on the ground."
Bremer's comments echoed charges by administration critics who argue that the U.S. government failed to plan adequately to maintain security in post-war Iraq, the newspaper said.
In the speech on Monday at an insurance conference in White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia, Bremer said U.S. plans for the postwar period erred in projecting what would happen after Hussein's demise, focusing on preparing for humanitarian relief and widespread refugee problems rather than a bloody insurgency now being waged by at least four well-armed factions, according to the Post.
"There was planning, but planning for a situation that didn't arise," Bremer was quoted as saying.
A Bremer aide told the newspaper that those comments, as well as similar remarks last month at DePauw University, were for private audiences and were supposed to have been off the record.
In a statement e-mailed to the Washington Post late on Monday, Bremer stressed that he fully supports the Bush 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 the statement.
According to the newspaper, Bremer's statement 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."
http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=topNews&storyID=6411916

C
why is it so hard for so many to see how screwed up this was!?!??!
C
I also agree that perhaps we should have had more troops on the ground, and I only heard this mentioned once by one of the military commanders. I do think, however that Donald Rumsfeld has outlived his usefulness in Washington, and should retire.