Bremer's task: Regain momentum in Iraq

L. Paul Bremer, who this week takes the helm of the troubled reconstruction effort in Iraq, is no dewy-eyed diplomat. The counterterrorism specialist with 23 years' experience in the State Department was tough on what he called "Islamic extremism" before the Sept. 11 attacks, and he is known to favor much of the world view of the man he will report to: Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld.

But as a business risk analyst in his post-public-service career, Mr. Bremer also put his diplomatic experience to work. He emphasized the link between democracy and free-market economies, and warned of the risks of investment in countries with nondemocratic regimes.

As he directs the effort to put Iraq back on its feet - controlling the rampant insecurity that greeted him when he arrived Monday in Baghdad, to clear the way for political reformation and an interim Iraqi administration - Bremer will need both toughness and a diplomat's long-term vision to succeed.

"Jerry Bremer is very smart, very energetic, and a very tough man," says Charles Dunbar, a former ambassador to Yemen and other countries, who worked with Bremer during his State Department career. "He believes Iraq can be transformed, and I'm sure he'll be tough with anybody not prepared to go with the program for rapid transformation of Iraq's political economy."

Bremer replaces retired Lt. Gen. Jay Garner, who will stay on indefinitely to assist the new team. The reasons for a reshuffling of the American authority directing Iraq's reconstruction can be found both on the ground in Iraq and in the power hallways of Washington.

Deteriorating security on Iraqi streets and a failure to quickly bring a range of services back on line reinforced the early concerns about the abilities of General Garner, who, from Washington's perspective, failed to hit the ground running. Garner also had trouble communicating the American message to the Iraqi people.

Those factors encouraged the White House, which had never envisioned Garner's as a long-term appointment anyway, to consider something different. In the meantime, officials at the State Department - already concerned that the Pentagon was encroaching on its foreign policy territory, and determined not to see that tendency confirmed in Iraq - wanted a more civilian face put on the reconstruction effort.

The State Department's view was bolstered by rising discomfort among US allies, including the British, about working with what much of the world sees as a military occupation.

"It's a good thing to have somebody with 'ambassador' rather than 'general' attached to his name," says Walter Cutler, a former ambassador to Saudi Arabia and Tunisia. "It helps to dispel the impression that we are occupiers rather than liberators. The military did their job very well, but, in the reconstruction phase, the fact you have a civilian rather than military image is good."

Page: 1 | 2