How the decision that is “widely seen as one of the most momentous and contentious of the war” was made is now coming to light. In May of 2003 Paul Bremer III (or ‘Jerry’ as he’s known around the office) decided (pretty much all by himself) to formally dissolve Iraq’s army.
Somehow he thought it was a good idea to put “250K-300K personnel” out of work in a country “racked by high unemployment” – because obviously taking away someone’s living wage is the way to get them to support you…
Mr. Powell, who views the decision as a “major blunder” asked, “Condi, what happened?”
“And her reaction was: ‘I was surprised too, but it is a decision that has been made and the president is standing behind Jerry’s decision. Jerry is the guy on the ground.’ And there was no further debate about it.”
Maybe there should have been some more debate.
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