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| Iraq |
| Bremer in, Garner out |
| 2003-05-11 |
| One top U.S. occupation official left her post Sunday, another was preparing to leave, and a new administrator arrived in the region, ready to take over, less than three weeks after their newborn reconstruction agency opened for business in the postwar chaos of Baghdad. Besides the rapid-fire changes at the top, there was other unsettling news Sunday for Iraqi rebuilding: Oil production, vital for recovery, may resume more slowly than thought, and it may take two more months to get full electricity back in Baghdad. As if to underscore the challenges facing the Americans, new arson fires broke out Sunday, sending palls of smoke billowing over a city wracked by looting and other lawlessness since a U.S.-British invasion toppled President Saddam Hussein's government last month. The departed official, ex-ambassador Barbara Bodine, was coordinator for central Iraq, including Baghdad, within the Office of Reconstruction and Humanitarian Assistance. The office thus far has assembled some 800 specialists from U.S. government agencies and allied governments to organize aid, reconstruction and the establishment of a new government for Iraq. An ORHA spokesman, U.S. Army Maj. John Cornelio, confirmed that Bodine was leaving Baghdad on Sunday. But the agency issued no statement explaining the reason for her swift departure, just two weeks after she chaired a familiarization meeting with top bureaucrats of the former Baghdad city administration. The Washington Post reported Sunday that Bodine, former U.S. ambassador to Yemen, was being reassigned as deputy director of the State Department's political-military division. No replacement for her has been named yet, Cornelio said. The replacement for chief U.S. administrator Jay Garner, on the other hand, has been known for more than a week. L. Paul Bremer, a longtime State Department aide, flew to Qatar this weekend as he prepared to take over in Baghdad as head of ORHA. Bremer, 61, whose new agency is essentially a military administration reporting to the U.S. Central Command, flew to Qatar with the Pentagon's top soldier, Air Force Gen. Richard Myers. Spokesman Cornelio said Garner also was in Qatar, presumably meeting with his successor. The 65-year-old retired Army lieutenant general, who arrived in Baghdad on April 21, had said his assignment here would be short-term, but it had been expected to last three months. Now, Garner has said, he will depart after making a "good handoff" to Bremer — probably by late May. Bremer is expected in Baghdad this week. |
| Posted by:Fred Pruitt |
| #2 Bodine is the one who would not cooperate with the team investigating the Cole bombing when she was stationed in Yemen. Based on that, I won't miss her. Garner seemed to have a good resume for his job, however, so something is not right behind the scenes. |
| Posted by: JAB 2003-05-11 22:20:01 |
| #1 Ten to one Bodine left because some of the Iraqi mullahs couldn't stand to work with or for a woman, and raised a stink. I think the best way to have handled it would to be break a few heads, but I guess Washington is "above" that. |
| Posted by: Old Patriot 2003-05-11 16:31:05 |