The top U.S. official in Iraq painted an upbeat picture of postwar reconstruction Sunday, even as he warned of continued attacks on American forces in Iraq and acknowledged that Saddam Hussein was probably alive and still in the country. In a series of TV interviews Sunday, L. Paul Bremer III, the veteran diplomat serving as the U.S. civilian administrator in Iraq, predicted that electric and water services could be restored to prewar levels within eight weeks, and that an elected Iraqi government could be in place by as soon as next year.
Bremer's comments came on the same day thousands of angry Iraqis in the Shiite holy city of Najaf marched on the headquarters of the U.S. commander, demanding the removal of U.S. forces. The protesters were followers of Moqtada Sadr, an Iranian-backed cleric who since the end of the war has emerged as the most militant of several leaders seeking the loyalty of Iraq's Shiite majority.
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Bremer acknowledged that the United States would likely be compelled to maintain a military presence in Iraq for a lengthy period. "I think it's clear that, given the size of the task, we are going to be there for a while," he said on NBC's "Meet the Press." "I don't know how many years." |