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never fails to amaze me. Paul Bremer says, among other things, we didn't expect an insurgency! Excerpts, link below; my emphasis.
"Just days after he got the job, Bremer says he saw an alarming report from a think tank, concluding it would take three times more US troops to stabilize Iraq than had actually been sent.
He says he tried to get the attention of his direct boss—Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld.
Williams: You'll need a half million soldiers. It's a piece of paper you sent to Secretary Rumsfeld. How did he react to that?
Bremer: So I sent a summary of it around to Rumsfeld and just said, "I thought you should take a look at this." I never had any reaction from him.
Though Bremer says he never heard back from his direct boss, he says he then discussed his concerns with the president. According to Bremer, President Bush said he would try to get more troops from other countries, but made no mention of increasing the number of American forces."
Other quotes:
"Bremer: You know I've thought about that as I looked back a lot, because we really didn't see the insurgency coming."
"But I suspect there was very little attention paid to what kind of an insurgency would come afterwards."
"Bremer: I said to the vice president, "You know i'm not sure that we really have a strategy for winning this war." The vice president said to me, "Well, I have similar concerns." He thought there was something to be said for the argument that we didn't have a strategy for victory at that time.
It's a surprising admission, considering what the Vice President was telling the public at the time."
"Bremer: Well, with the president, with Secretary Rumsfeld, with senior military leaders. There was a tendency by people in the Pentagon to exaggerate the capability of the Iraqi forces. And I felt that it was not likely that we would have professionally-trained Iraqi forces able to allow us to withdraw American troops in the spring of 2004."
"In the book, Bremer writes that he was so concerned, in May 2004, he sent a private message to Secretary Rumsfeld asking for more U.S. troops, but nothing happened.
He writes, "I verified that the Secretary received my message. I did not hear back from him."
"Williams: The sad truth is, today, if you and I were to walk outside the Green Zone, do you have any doubt within minutes we would be captured or killed?
Bremer: Look, the security is not as good as it should be. That's no secret. We've got young Americans dying over there still today. That is a painful price of war. That doesn't make it wrong. It just makes it difficult."
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/10739597/
"Just days after he got the job, Bremer says he saw an alarming report from a think tank, concluding it would take three times more US troops to stabilize Iraq than had actually been sent.
He says he tried to get the attention of his direct boss—Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld.
Williams: You'll need a half million soldiers. It's a piece of paper you sent to Secretary Rumsfeld. How did he react to that?
Bremer: So I sent a summary of it around to Rumsfeld and just said, "I thought you should take a look at this." I never had any reaction from him.
Though Bremer says he never heard back from his direct boss, he says he then discussed his concerns with the president. According to Bremer, President Bush said he would try to get more troops from other countries, but made no mention of increasing the number of American forces."
Other quotes:
"Bremer: You know I've thought about that as I looked back a lot, because we really didn't see the insurgency coming."
"But I suspect there was very little attention paid to what kind of an insurgency would come afterwards."
"Bremer: I said to the vice president, "You know i'm not sure that we really have a strategy for winning this war." The vice president said to me, "Well, I have similar concerns." He thought there was something to be said for the argument that we didn't have a strategy for victory at that time.
It's a surprising admission, considering what the Vice President was telling the public at the time."
"Bremer: Well, with the president, with Secretary Rumsfeld, with senior military leaders. There was a tendency by people in the Pentagon to exaggerate the capability of the Iraqi forces. And I felt that it was not likely that we would have professionally-trained Iraqi forces able to allow us to withdraw American troops in the spring of 2004."
"In the book, Bremer writes that he was so concerned, in May 2004, he sent a private message to Secretary Rumsfeld asking for more U.S. troops, but nothing happened.
He writes, "I verified that the Secretary received my message. I did not hear back from him."
"Williams: The sad truth is, today, if you and I were to walk outside the Green Zone, do you have any doubt within minutes we would be captured or killed?
Bremer: Look, the security is not as good as it should be. That's no secret. We've got young Americans dying over there still today. That is a painful price of war. That doesn't make it wrong. It just makes it difficult."
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/10739597/