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Garner deserved lead role in Iraq
Jay Garnerâs unceremonious departure from Iraq last year left an impression that he wasnât up to the job of overseeing the greatest nation-building experiment in history. The retired general not only understood the country and the military, he knew firsthand about guerrilla wars and the problems of winning the support of occupied people. For months, he had prepared to reconstruct Iraq but was clearly in trouble only days after he started.On the whole, Mr. Garner took his hasty removal like the good soldier he is, without complaints or criticisms. There is one noteworthy exception. In November, he gave an interview to the British Broadcasting Corp. and cited several critical differences he had with Mr. Bremer and the Bush administration over how the United States should carry out its postwar plan. In the interview, he said it was a huge mistake to disband the Iraqi army and also throw all members of Saddam Husseinâs Baath Party out of their jobs. Thousands of families lost their means of support and fell into poverty. Also, people with the expertise to guide the reconstruction were cast aside. "I think it was a mistake," Mr. Garner told the BBC. "Youâre talking about a million or more people that are suffering because the head of the householdâs out of work." The administration made soldiers and professionals who could have been part of the solution in Iraq part of the problem. Hunger, unemployment and lack of basic utilities fueled the recruitment of insurgents. Iraqis who could have been hired to provide security became looters and guerrillas instead. "We had planned on bringing the army back and using them in reconstruction," Mr. Garner said. But Washington broke from the plan early on, then overruled him. Mr. Garner, 66, acknowledged that two of his biggest problems during his brief stay were having enough troops and police in the streets to provide order and having the qualified people who could expedite the return of basic public services -- for example, running water, electricity, transportation -- to return some measure of normalcy to daily lives. Nothing feeds insurgency like hunger, thirst and darkness. Rather than listen to Mr. Garner and follow Plan A for reconstruction, however, the administration took the advice of Ahmad Chalabi, the Shiite politician and Pentagon favorite who has headed the Iraqi National Congress and directed the committee in charge of removing former Baathists. Plan B under Mr. Chalabi was to widen the purge, not promote reconciliation. IMO, Bremer has always struck me as being a tad bit too "corporate" or maybe Iâm prejudiced against Bremer because he is associated with State Dept...
Posted by: rex 2004-05-03 |
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