By Meredeth Mackenzie
Washington (UPI) Jan 16, 2006
Former Coalition Provisional Authority boss L Paul Bremer is now trashing the Bush administration for its mistakes in Iraq, but even his public statements are inconsistent with what he wrote in his new book of memoirs.
In his new book of memoirs, "My Year in Iraq", Bremer is highly critical of decisions made by Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, especially those concerning U.S. troop levels and the allocation of resources for battling the early Sunni Muslim insurgency.
Bremer reveals in the book a policy conflict between administration officials particularly, Rumsfeld and then National Security Advisor Condoleezza Rice, over the number of troops needed in Iraq after the fall of Baghdad to U.S. forces in spring 2003. He also makes frequent reference to a study by the RAND Corporation that recommended tripling the U.S. troop levels that were sent to Iraq. That recommendation -- which urged troop levels of around 400,000 in Iraq, was also ignored by the administration.
Also in the book, Bremer is not afraid to reveal his frank conversations with President George W. Bush expressing his doubts about U.S. military strategy in Iraq. But his warnings, he wrote, were not heeded. Bremer was also critical of restrictions and regulations dictating procedure for government re-construction contracts.
http://www.spacewar.com/news/Bremer_Blames_Bush_Rumsfeld.html