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Commentary :: War in Iraq
Bremer Adds to Record on Iraqi Looting
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Date Created
- 05 Oct 2004
Date Edited
- 05 Oct 2004 09:56:47 AM
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This work is in the public domain.
Bremer calls 2003 Iraqi Looting "Horrid," discrediting Defense Secretary Rumsfeld.
.
Bremer on Looting in Iraq upon his Arrival:
L. Paul Bremer, speaking Monday [October 4, 2004] in White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia, said "horrid" looting was occurring when he arrived in Baghdad on May 6, 2003.
"We paid a big price for not stopping it because it established an atmosphere of lawlessness," Bremer said. "We never had enough troops on the ground."
Contrast that with What Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said in April 2003:
The looting, he suggested, was "part of the price" for what the United States and Britain have called the liberation of Iraq. He also asserted the looting was not as bad as some television and newspaper reports have indicated and said there was no major crisis in Baghdad, the capital city, which lacks a central governing authority.
"Freedom's untidy, and free people are free to make mistakes and commit crimes and do bad things," Rumsfeld said. "They're also free to live their lives and do wonderful things. And that's what's going to happen here."
Looting, he added, was not uncommon for countries that experience significant social upheaval. "Stuff happens," Rumsfeld said.
Commentary Rumsfeld is personally responsible for the "insufficient" number of troops available to secure nuclear power facilities housing radioactive materials that later fell into the hands of unsuspecting villagers who used contaminated 55-gallon drums for water containers. Public records were destroyed, as were antiquities of Iraq.
By international law, the occupying U.S. force was responsible for Iraqi security. Before the war, the Army chief of staff, Gen. Eric K. Shinseki, said publicly that he thought the Rumsfeld's plan lacked sufficient manpower. Shinseki was effectively fired after this public statement.
Not only was the pre-emptive war illegal and immoral, the Bush Administration was either incompetent or malicious with respect to the post-invasion chaos. Bremer's statement will aid in holding Bush and Rumsfeld accountable.
Sources:
Bremer quotes: CNN Website: Tuesday, October 5, 2004 Posted: 9:19 AM EDT
http://www.cnn.com/2004/WORLD/meast/10/05/iraq.main/index.html
Rumsfeld quotes: Sean Loughlin, CNN Washington Bureau, Saturday, April 12, 2003
http://www.cnn.com/2003/US/04/11/sprj.irq.pentagon/
Bremer on Looting in Iraq upon his Arrival:
L. Paul Bremer, speaking Monday [October 4, 2004] in White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia, said "horrid" looting was occurring when he arrived in Baghdad on May 6, 2003.
"We paid a big price for not stopping it because it established an atmosphere of lawlessness," Bremer said. "We never had enough troops on the ground."
Contrast that with What Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said in April 2003:
The looting, he suggested, was "part of the price" for what the United States and Britain have called the liberation of Iraq. He also asserted the looting was not as bad as some television and newspaper reports have indicated and said there was no major crisis in Baghdad, the capital city, which lacks a central governing authority.
"Freedom's untidy, and free people are free to make mistakes and commit crimes and do bad things," Rumsfeld said. "They're also free to live their lives and do wonderful things. And that's what's going to happen here."
Looting, he added, was not uncommon for countries that experience significant social upheaval. "Stuff happens," Rumsfeld said.
Commentary Rumsfeld is personally responsible for the "insufficient" number of troops available to secure nuclear power facilities housing radioactive materials that later fell into the hands of unsuspecting villagers who used contaminated 55-gallon drums for water containers. Public records were destroyed, as were antiquities of Iraq.
By international law, the occupying U.S. force was responsible for Iraqi security. Before the war, the Army chief of staff, Gen. Eric K. Shinseki, said publicly that he thought the Rumsfeld's plan lacked sufficient manpower. Shinseki was effectively fired after this public statement.
Not only was the pre-emptive war illegal and immoral, the Bush Administration was either incompetent or malicious with respect to the post-invasion chaos. Bremer's statement will aid in holding Bush and Rumsfeld accountable.
Sources:
Bremer quotes: CNN Website: Tuesday, October 5, 2004 Posted: 9:19 AM EDT
http://www.cnn.com/2004/WORLD/meast/10/05/iraq.main/index.html
Rumsfeld quotes: Sean Loughlin, CNN Washington Bureau, Saturday, April 12, 2003
http://www.cnn.com/2003/US/04/11/sprj.irq.pentagon/
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