Bremer Makes Case for More Money in Iraq
By David Tamasi
WASHINGTON – The American in charge of the rebuilding of Iraq appeared before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee Wednesday and offered this sober assessment of the situation there: “We will have good days and bad days.”
L. Paul Bremer III, administrator of the Coalition Provisional Authority, spent nearly three hours defending President Bush’s request for an additional $87 billion for war and reconstruction in Iraq and Afghanistan — and specifically the $20.3 billion the administration has included to enhance security and restore electricity and water in Iraq.
“This is urgent,” Bremer said. “The urgency of military operations is self-evident. The funds for non-military operations are equally urgent. Now the reality of foreign troops on the streets is starting to chafe, some Iraqis are beginning to regard us as occupiers and not as liberators. Let’s not hide the fact.”
Before they grant any money, senators wanted answers.
Bremer faced a chorus of criticism from Democrats on the committee who wanted information for constituents who are growing wary of U.S. involvement in Iraq and wondering why the United States was being forced to pay the whole bill.
“Polls are not a basis to make decisions,” said Sen. Joseph Biden of Delaware, the panel’s senior Democrat. “But when things go south here [in the Senate] they go south quickly.”
Bremer said he hoped the United States would receive pledges from other nations and the international financial community to assist with the reconstruction during a conference on Iraq in Madrid in late October. Currently, Iraq is saddled with a $200 billion foreign debt – half of it owed France, Germany, Japan and Russia — extending back to deposed President Saddam Hussein. The sizable debt is considered an impediment to Iraq’s receiving loans from international monetary organizations.
Sen. Paul Sarbanes, D-Maryland, asked how long U.S. forces would remain in Iraq. Bremer told him it would be at least the next year.
With the President’s approval ratings dropping, Democrats in recent days have become increasingly strident in questioning the administration’s plan for Iraq. Sen. Edward Kennedy, D-Massachusetts, has led the charge, calling Bush’s initial rationale for war a “fraud” that was politically inspired. He did not back down Tuesday in comments on the Senate floor, though he softened his language somewhat.
“There’s no question the White House sees political advantage in the war. You can see it in Karl Rove’s speeches to Republican strategists,” Kennedy said Tuesday, referring to White House political adviser.
In the face of these questions and complaints, Bremer’s time this week on Capitol Hill has been busy and not very pretty. Bremer reportedly was met with hostility when he addressed Senate Democrats at their weekly policy lunch Tuesday — and did not even receive the traditional polite applause before he left.
In his opening remarks to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee Wednesday, Bremer said the first priority for Iraq was to write a constitution that would create a political and legal structure, which, in turn, would allow for economic expansion. He said he did not know how long it would take to draft a constitution.
A critical component of securing the peace is an increased number of trained Iraqi police, Bremer said. Currently there are 40,000 Iraqi police officers, and another 40,000 are needed, he said. Training 25,000 police in the next year, the current goal, would be four times quicker than any previous similar effort, Bremer said.
In response to a question from Sen. John Sununu, R-New Hampshire, Bremer said Iraq was on target to meet its goals for electric power capacity. He added that oil output was 1.7 million barrels a day now, with a goal of 2 million barrels by the end of the year.
Bremer said the entire $87 billion budget request – including the reconstruction effort — was essential to win the war on terror.
“Recreating Iraq as a nation at peace with itself and with the world, an Iraq that terrorists flee rather than flock to, requires more than people with guns,” he said.
Sen. John Kerry of Massachusetts, a member of the Foreign Relations Committee, did not attend the hearing. A Democratic presidential candidate, he picked up an endorsement an hour after the hearing concluded from the International Association of Firefighters, which was meeting in Washington.
