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A Daily Chronicle of Bush Administration Distortion November 13, 2003
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Amid Increasing Violence, Administration Abruptly Shifts Iraq Policy



The Bush administration announced plans yesterday to accelerate the transition in Iraq from the American-selected governing council to greater independent Iraqi authority, days after Paul Bremer, the top American official in Iraq, warned that the U.S. plan needed major changes.1

After a series of emergency meetings in Washington, the timetable that had been quantified in years is now being estimated in months, with transition to a sovereign Iraqi government slated for as early as next summer.2

Secretary of State Colin Powell defended the administration's timetable and approach in September, saying, "To think that somehow you could tomorrow wake up and say, 'OK. Fine. Give sovereignty back to the Iraqi people,' before you have a constitution, before you've had elections, before you've had the institutions of democracy put in place is not a reasonable statement to make."3

But an administration official confirmed that the President had come to the opposite conclusion, "The president agreed that we couldn't wait for a constitution to be written. The system can't handle it."4

The meetings were influenced by a new CIA report that revealed a majority of Iraqis now view the Americans as occupiers, not liberators. One official described the report as saying, "this is an insurgency, and that it is gaining strength because Iraqis have no confidence that there is anyone on the horizon who is going to stick around in Iraq as a real alternative to the former regime."5

The report stands in stark contrast to the President's remarks during his press conference last month, during which he said, "I think the people of Iraq appreciate what is taking place inside the country."6

White House spokesman Scott McClellan refused to acknowledge yesterday that the administration's strategy had shifted at all, saying simply, "We're staying the course to realize our same goal."7

Sources:
  1. "Bremer warns on risk of security breakdown," Financial Times, 11/12/03.
  2. "U.S. to Back Re-Formed Iraq Body," Washington Post, 11/13/03.
  3. Meet the Press, NBC News, 9/7/03.
  4. "U.S. Moves to Speed Up Iraqi Vote and Shift of Power," New York Times, 11/13/03.
  5. "C.I.A. Report Suggests Iraqis Are Losing Faith in U.S. Efforts," New York Times, 11/13/03.
  6. Presidential Press Conference, 10/28/03.
  7. Press Briefing, 11/12/03.



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