Pacific Views

From the horse's mouth.

Or from one of the horses, anyway.

According to former Iraq occupation honcho Paul Bremer, Dubya's administration didn't send enough troops to Iraq. Speaking in a supposedly off-record talk at Depauw University on September 17, Bremer also said that the US made a mistake by not controlling the violence and looting that took place after the overthrow of the Saddam Hussein government. (You'll remember that while the US had enough troops to protect the Iraqi oil ministry, for some reason there was no way to prevent the looting of the National Museum and other cultural sites.)

Ambassador L. Paul Bremer, administrator for the U.S.-led occupation government until the handover of political power on June 28, said he still supports the decision to intervene in Iraq but said a lack of adequate forces hampered the occupation and efforts to end the looting early on.

"We paid a big price for not stopping it because it established an atmosphere of lawlessness," he said yesterday in a speech at an insurance conference in White Sulphur Springs, W.Va. "We never had enough troops on the ground."

Bremer apparently didn't go on to point out how inadequate troop numbers have made US troops sitting ducks for Iraqi insurgents, but hey: half a loaf is better than nothing.

And we're sure we don't have to point out who was ultimately responsible for the decision to not send enough troops to Iraq.

Via Washington Post.

Posted by Magpie at October 5, 2004 08:41 AM | Iraq | Technorati links |