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albeit with a lot of propagandistic statements about the brutality of the old regime and why it must not be allowed to come back, why it was more than just getting rid of Saddam.

Bremer barely mentions weapons of mass destruction. His mission is stated as that of building democracy, which according to him, also involves free market capitalism, as opposed to Baathist national socialism. Bremer equates Saddam to Hitler. In this way, the invasion of Iraq is justified for history, at least for US history.

Bremer thinks of security in military and police terms rather than in political terms. This is why he failed to provide it. The military tactics, which were beyond his control only served to inflame the political situation. Thos who opposed the US invasion were deemed the enemy and assaulted in search and destroy. No serious attempts were made to negotiate and so no peace has been possible. The US has never even been clear about who it was fighting in the insurgency.

Bremer describes each diplomatic and political move as a step forward for democracy and freedom. One wonders whether he really believed the fairy tail he was writing.

Bremer's discussions with Bush are in the most general terms. We clearly have the image that Bush is not concerned with the details but relies on Bremer and Rumsfeld to dot he job for him. The whole Iraq adventure is one that has been planned by policy analysts under Cheney, the secret mover, and executed using well intentioned front men such as Bremer.

Now Bush says he will leave the end of the war to a future president! What a capitulation to failure. Unfortunately, with two and a half years to go and a thousand US deaths a year, this will amount to quite a waste for the sake of saving Bush's credibility, what little there is left. Most knowledgeable people think that those shadowy policy analysts and Cheney have no intention of ever leaving Iraq. Some people are just making too much money off this war.

Bremer's discussion of events reeks of naivet at best, and slight of hand and propaganda at other times.

Learn more about this author, Thomas Lacey.
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