....and Krugman is again all wet.
JDG
U.S. makes plans for post-Saddam Iraq
>From Barbara Starr
CNN Washington Bureau
Monday, February 24, 2003 Posted: 1:16 PM EST (1816
GMT)
U.N. weapons inspectors pass an Iraqi soldier Monday
in Baghdad.
WASHINGTON (CNN) -- The Bush administration is laying
extensive plans for a long-term U.S. military and
civilian administration in Iraq once the regime of
Saddam Hussein is removed from power, either through
war or other means, officials said Monday.
Some of the initial plans were discussed last week in
testimony on Capitol Hill, but further White House and
Pentagon briefings are expected this week with more
detail.
More than 100 officials from government agencies that
would be involved met Friday and Saturday for a
classified briefing at the National Defense University
in Washington to begin to lay out the framework.
Here is what officials have said about that framework:
At the core of a post-Saddam administration would be
the U.S. Central Command. Gen. Tommy Franks, who is
the head of Central Command, and his troops would
remain in charge of security and stability for Iraq
when the shooting stops.
The goal would be to keep those troops in place as
long as necessary but also install a civilian
administrator so there is no appearance solely of a
U.S. military occupation of Iraq.
The Pentagon also has established an Office of
Reconstruction and Humanitarian Assistance, which
retired Army Lt. Gen. Jay Garner will run. Garner has
previous experience in humanitarian relief operations
in northern Iraq with the Kurds. He would coordinate
operations under the plan.
Garner and several staffers are expected to move from
the Pentagon into the Persian Gulf region in the near
future and then be ready to deploy to the Iraqi
capital, Baghdad. Their stated goal will be to also
solicit international and private sector support for
all efforts rather than have the U.S. military do the
work.
The Pentagon envisions an era of "transition" before
Iraq can be transformed into a democracy, according to
one official.
The office will have separate deputies overseeing
three areas:
• Humanitarian relief: The weekend meeting identified
this area as a major and continuing issue. Some 60
percent of Iraqis get their food from U.N. and other
relief organizations, and the Pentagon is trying to
ensure aid agencies can get back into Iraq as soon as
hostilities cease. The meeting underscored that the
military's humanitarian daily rations airdropped over
Afghanistan would be insufficient for ensuring food
for as large a population as Iraq. Ensuring a safe
water supply also will be a top priority.
• Reconstruction of infrastructure: Iraq's basic
infrastructure of roads, bridges, civil works and
other facilities has deteriorated badly over the last
20 years. The Pentagon will coordinate repair and
reconstruction as well as work needed to restore oil
fields.
• Civil administration: This effort envisions first
removing any Baath Party or Saddam supporters from the
government and then beginning to work to establish a
new government. The United States would work side by
side with Iraqis in the bureaucracy and courts and
justice system, including the possibility of writing a
new legal code.
Officials emphasize they do not know how long any of
this process will take or how much it will cost.
The whole effort depends on how much destruction is
caused during a war and the amount of resistance the
United States might encounter in Iraqi society.
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John D. Giorgis - [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Tonight I have a message for the brave and oppressed people of Iraq:
Your enemy is not surrounding your country — your enemy is ruling your
country. And the day he and his regime are removed from power will be
the day of your liberation." -George W. Bush 1/29/03
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