Mr L. Paul Bremer – the US presidential envoy to Iraq and administrator (CEO) of the Coalition Provisional Authority from May 2003 to June 2004 – has written an interesting article defending his decisions in the fateful days that followed the overthrowing of the Saddam Hussein regime in Iraq by the US-led forces.
Bremer writes in The Washington Post: “I’ve grown weary of being a punching bag over these decisions — particularly from critics who’ve never spent time in Iraq, don’t understand its complexities and can’t explain what we should have done differently.”
From Bremer down to General Petraeus, there seems to some strange general political/public perception that the US top guys stationed in Iraq can magically resolve the ongoing imbroglio there. Although four years have passed no lessons seem to have been learned. The hit and trial method continues. There has to be some limit to this naivete!
Bremer, a veteran diplomat, in his article is at best trying to hedge the issue. Obviously, he is fighting shy to admit that the buck stops at the White House (and the State Department).
He should know better. It is for the President and his aides in Washington to lay down a deliberated, acceptable, justifiable and feasible policy course, select the right person for a really tough job, monitor the progress (change course if need be), and get out in right time from an occupied country when it appears to have become a quagmire.
So many question marks have remained over the US administration’s policy right from the beginning of the Iraq war. But let us limit to what Paul Bremer is saying now.
It is difficult to buy Bremer’s argument that his critics “who’ve never spent time in Iraq, don’t understand its complexities and can’t explain what we should have done differently.” This is too simplistic an explanation, couched in a diplomatic language, that fails to clarify his or his mentors’ actions.
Please….please…Mr Bremer, just a minute! You were only an administrator given a particular brief. Before taking up your assignment, you were fully aware of the murder and mayhem you would be dealing with in an occupied country. So you can’t plead now that the situation in Iraq is too complex and that is why no one has been able to succeed!!!
Either you should have refused to take up this job (Mr Bush was not standing behind you with a pistol if you had backed out from taking the assignment), or be brave enough to tackle uncomfortable questions, such as: Was it a mistake to overthrow a legal government; Was it a folly to demolish a structure of governance (which may not be much different from the one imposed now – because no one outside Iraq knows the reality); and so on.
When Bremer went to Iraq to take total charge of that country he knew well that the hasty decision of Bush and Co in search of honey had disturbed a hornet’s nest. While his bosses sat in the relative comfort of the White House, Bremer bravely opted to bring the bees under control.
Either he did not know the size of the beehive or the power of their sting, or as a diplomat he was enamoured of the high sounding designation he was bestowed by the US administration to rule Baghdad. (And later decorated with Medal of Freedom Award — see photo above).
One is surprised that a seasoned diplomat like Bremer was not aware that Iraq (or for that matter even Afghanistan) has been a graveyard of many a reputation/ambitions — of individuals and foreign powers — who have tried to rule that country.
To read Paul Bremer’s article please click here…
The heading of Bremer’s article is ‘What We Got Right In Iraq’. I wonder whether he would have the courage to write a sequel ‘What We Got Wrong In Iraq’.
Swaraaj Chauhan describes his two-decade-long stint as a full-time journalist as eventful, purposeful, and full of joy and excitement. In 1993 he could foresee a different work culture appearing on the horizon, and decided to devote full time to teaching journalism (also, partly, with a desire to give back to the community from where he had enriched himself so much.)
Alongside, he worked for about a year in 1993 for the US State Department’s SPAN magazine, a nearly five-decade-old art and culture monthly magazine promoting US-India relations. It gave him an excellent opportunity to learn about things American, plus the pleasure of playing tennis in the lavish American embassy compound in the heart of New Delhi.
In !995 he joined WWF-India as a full-time media and environment education consultant and worked there for five years travelling a great deal, including to Husum in Germany as a part of the international team to formulate WWF’s Eco-tourism policy.
He taught journalism to honors students in a college affiliated to the University of Delhi, as also at the prestigious Indian Institute of Mass Communication where he lectured on “Development Journalism” to mid-career journalists/Information officers from the SAARC, African, East European and Latin American countries, for eight years.
In 2004 the BBC World Service Trust (BBC WST) selected him as a Trainer/Mentor for India under a European Union project. In 2008/09 He completed another European Union-funded project for the BBC WST related to Disaster Management and media coverage in two eastern States in India — West Bengal and Orissa.
Last year, he spent a couple of months in Australia and enjoyed trekking, and also taught for a while at the University of South Australia.
Recently, he was appointed as a Member of the Board of Studies at Chitkara University in Chandigarh, a beautiful city in North India designed by the famous Swiss/French architect Le Corbusier. He also teaches undergraduate and postgraduate students there.
He loves trekking, especially in the hills, and never misses an opportunity to play a game of tennis. The Western and Indian classical music are always within his reach for instant relaxation.
And last, but not least, is his firm belief in the power of the positive thought to heal oneself and others.