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Neocon Nuttery
See other Neocon Nuttery Articles

Title: Oh, brother. Bush "can't remember" why Iraqi army was disbanded
Source: LA Times
URL Source: http://www.latimes.com/news/nationw ... -na-bush3sep03,0,7983117.story
Published: Sep 4, 2007
Author: Hennessy
Post Date: 2007-09-04 15:11:34 by Mekons4
Keywords: None
Views: 254
Comments: 4

Bush can't recall why Iraqi army disbanded

In biography excerpts, he says he initially wanted to maintain the forces: 'Yeah, I can't remember.' By Molly Hennessy-Fiske, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer September 3, 2007 WASHINGTON -- One of the most heavily criticized actions in the aftermath of the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq in March 2003 was the decision, barely two months later, to disband the Iraqi army, alienating former soldiers and driving many straight into the ranks of anti-American militant groups.

But excerpts of a new biography of President Bush show him saying that he initially wanted to maintain the Iraqi army and, more surprising, that he cannot recall why his administration decided to disband it.

"The policy was to keep the army intact; didn't happen," Bush told biographer Robert Draper in excerpts published in Sunday's New York Times.

Draper pressed Bush to explain why, if he wanted to maintain the army, his chief administrator for Iraq, L. Paul Bremer III, issued an order in May 2003 disbanding the 400,000-strong army without pay.

"Yeah, I can't remember; I'm sure I said, 'This is the policy, what happened?' " Bush said, adding: "Again, Hadley's got notes on all this stuff" -- a reference to national security advisor Stephen J. Hadley.

Spokesmen for the White House and former Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld declined to comment about the excerpts Sunday. Bremer could not be reached for comment.

Douglas J. Feith, then undersecretary of Defense for policy and an architect of the Iraq invasion, said the excerpts raised interesting questions about how the pivotal decision was made.

Feith was deeply involved in the decision-making process at the time, working closely with Bush and Bremer.

In February 2003, the month before the invasion, Feith briefed Bush about plans Rumsfeld had signed off on to maintain the Iraqi army. The assumption at the time, based on information provided by the CIA, was that the army would remain intact after the invasion, Feith said.

Instead, Iraqi officers fled their posts, which were ransacked and looted. U.S. officials inherited a military that would have to be overhauled or abandoned, Feith said in an interview Sunday, and they opted for the latter.

Feith said he could not comment about how involved the president was in the decision to change policy and dissolve the army.

"I don't know all the details of who talked to who about that," he said.

But he said the decision warrants scrutiny.

"I know there are people out there who say one of the most significant decisions the United States made [in Iraq] was the dissolution of the Iraqi army," Feith said. "So it's an interesting question. But very often on these things, until everybody writes memoirs and all the researchers look at the documents, some of these things are hard to sort out. You could be in the thick of it and not necessarily know all the details."

Feith, a visiting professor at Georgetown University, is the author of a forthcoming memoir, "War and Decision," about his work in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Draper's book "Dead Certain" is to be released Tuesday.

molly.hennessy-fiske@ http://latimes.com

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#1. To: All (#0)

Didn't I read this same story in The Onion about FOUR YEARS AGO?

I just can't believe this crap anymore.

Mekons4  posted on  2007-09-04   15:12:59 ET  Reply   Trace   Private Reply  


#2. To: Mekons4 (#0)

"can't remember"? maybe the programmers goofed....

i'm sorry...i'm still laughing about the following...although there is a LOT of truth in it...it could have been written by THE ONION as well...

THE CLONE PRESIDENT

http://cloakanddagger.de/_Grossmann/GROSSMAN/CLONE%20PRESIDENT/The_Clone_President.htm

AllTheKings'HorsesWontDoIt  posted on  2007-09-04   15:36:21 ET  Reply   Trace   Private Reply  


#3. To: Mekons4 (#0)

Everyone who sat around the conference table wearing a beret and uniform was a high ranking Ba'ath Party member.

Israel decreed that they could not remain in the jobs no matter how much canning them crippled the recovery.

And, we still don't know where Dr. Huda Ammash is. She was educated in The US and speaks perfect English so I know they don't want "Mrs. Anthrax" blabbing their dirty deeds. I'm afraid that she'll get the Rudolf Hess treatment until she succumbs to the breast cancer for which they are likely depriving her of treatment.

Those dirty bastards.

HOUNDDAWG  posted on  2007-09-04   15:38:49 ET  Reply   Trace   Private Reply  


#4. To: Mekons4 (#0)

I DO remember the main reason given and I wasn't even in charge of the CF. Recall that Ahmed Chalabi, the neocon's darling, was supposed to waltz in and take over. It was thought this would be a lot easier (and they thought it was going to be a piece of cake anyhow) without the "Ba'athists"-dominated army of Saddam in the picture anymore.

“I would give no thought of what the world might say of me, if I could only transmit to posterity the reputation of an honest man.” - Sam Houston

Sam Houston  posted on  2007-09-04   15:46:11 ET  Reply   Trace   Private Reply  


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