NYTimes: Envoy’s (Bremer) Letters Counter Bush on Dismantling of Iraq Army

[Kadie]

Envoy’s Letters Counter Bush on Dismantling of Iraq Army


By EDMUND L. ANDREWS
Published: September 4, 2007

WASHINGTON, Sept. 3 — A previously undisclosed exchange of letters shows that President Bush was told in advance by his top Iraq envoy in May 2003 of a plan to “dissolve Saddam’s military and intelligence structures,” a plan that the envoy, L. Paul Bremer, said referred to dismantling the Iraqi Army.

Mr. Bremer provided the letters to The New York Times on Monday after reading that Mr. Bush was quoted in a new book as saying that American policy had been “to keep the army intact” but that it “didn’t happen.”

The dismantling of the Iraqi Army in the aftermath of the American invasion is now widely regarded as a mistake that stoked rebellion among hundreds of thousands of former Iraqi soldiers and made it more difficult to reduce sectarian bloodshed and attacks by insurgents. In releasing the letters, Mr. Bremer said he wanted to refute the suggestion in Mr. Bush’s comment that Mr. Bremer had acted to disband the army without the knowledge and concurrence of the White House.

“We must make it clear to everyone that we mean business: that Saddam and the Baathists are finished,” Mr. Bremer wrote in a letter to the president on May 22, 2003.

After recounting American efforts to remove members of Mr. Hussein’s Baath Party from civilian agencies, Mr. Bremer told Mr. Bush that he would “parallel this step with an even more robust measure” to dismantle the Iraq military.

One day later, Mr. Bush wrote back a short thank you letter. “Your leadership is apparent,” the president wrote. “You have quickly made a positive and significant impact. You have my full support and confidence.” On the same day, Mr. Bremer, in Baghdad, had issued the order disbanding the Iraqi military.


more...
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/04/washington/04bremer.html


Letter from L. Paul Bremer to George W. Bush, May 22, 2003
http://www.nytimes.com/ref/washington/04bremer-text1.html?ref=washington

Letter from George W. Bush to L. Paul Bremer, May 23, 2003
http://www.nytimes.com/ref/washington/04bremer-text2.html?ref=washington

[Fresh_Start]

1. LOL Bremer

doing a CYA and making Bush look bad at the same time.

Lovely

[Olney Blue]

2. Uh oh. Bremer kept his letters.

Eventually, all the other scape goats will be publishing their letters too.

No amount of re-writing history by Rove (or erasing of his emails) will be able to hide it.

[Kadie]

6. You got that right.

Eventually, all the other scape goats will be publishing their letters too.


:hi:

[Amonester]

3. Still, very few "leaders" have the courage to call the dimwit a...

a...

What's that WORD again?

awe... yeah... a...

LIAR

yeah... what is it that this despicable war criminal * has that scares so many to death about speaking the truth as it so blatantly is?
:shrug:

[Spinzonner]

4. Oh come on now

He can't read everything.

Probably had some brush to cut.

[The_Casual_Observer]

5. You're do'in a heck of a job bremmie!

jr didn't have the slightest idea about what was going on in Iraq.

[Usrename]

7. Bremmer thinks Bush actually read his three-page letter.

What a disgrace.