As someone else posted this morning, Paul Bremer told a crowd at an insurance conference in West Virginia that there were too few troops committed to Iraq, and that he had asked for more troops but had been rebuffed. "We never had enough troops on the ground."
Someone later, Bremer said that he hadn't realized his comments would be reported, and that he meant only that there weren't enough troops there when Baghdad fell to stop looting. Nice try, except that his
previous comments at DePauw University were similarly expansive:
- Earlier, at a student forum this afternoon in Meharry Hall, the ambassador admitted, "The single most important change -- the one thing that would have improved the situation -- would have been having more troops in Iraq at the beginning and throughout... Although I raised this issue a number of times with our government, I should have been even more insistent."
For their part, DoD officials are denying that Bremer ever asked for more troops:
- A senior Defense Department official said that Bremer never asked for more troops and expressed annoyance the ambassador appeared to be second-guessing the advice of military officials.
CNN. According to Atrios, CNN TV just ran the following:
- Officials here again say that during the time frame Paul Bremer served in Iraq he was in constant contact with the Penatgon, with the White House, he visited here several times and spokesman for Defense Sec. Donald Rumsfeld says the Secretary doesn't recall any point that Paul Bremer brought up with him at least the need for more troops. If it had come up, the Secretary would have paid a great deal of attention to that.
The problem with lying, though, is that it's so much work to try to keep all the stories straight. Fifteen months ago:
- The top American administrator in Iraq, confronting growing anti-U.S. anger and guerrilla-style attacks, is asking for more American troops and dozens of U.S. officials to help speed up the restoration of order and public services.
Secretary of Defense Donald H. Rumsfeld was reviewing the request from L. Paul Bremer, U.S. officials said, speaking on the condition of anonymity.
Bremer's request underscores how difficult it has been for his small civilian staff and some 158,000 U.S.-led troops to meet the demands of Iraqis for security and other basic needs. It also conflicts with upbeat public statements from President Bush, Rumsfeld and Bremer himself on the progress made on Iraq's political and economic reconstruction.
God forbid Kerry should fuck up Bush's steady leadership in Iraq with some flip-floppery!
