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Paul Bremer, the governor of Iraq after the fall of Saddam: Obama withdrew US troops as a gift of the country to Iran and ISIS
He said in an interview with "The Independent Arab" that Erdogan Osmani tyrant as reported by a diplomatic friend and confirmed the smuggling of Syria to al-Qaeda fighters across its border with Iraq
[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]editor [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]Wednesday 9 October 2019 20:49
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A month after the fall of Saddam Hussein in April 2003, the United States chose one of its diplomats, Ambassador Paul Bremer, who had never worked in any Arab country, to be the administrator of Iraq. Headquartered in the Green Zone, he formed a coalition of mostly Shiites and Kurds to look into the future of Iraq and decide what the next days will be. Even today, he is accused of being behind the dissolution of the Iraqi army and the Baath Party, which some see as a wrong and disastrous decision. Nazi under every sky and over every land. But the surprise was that former President Barack Obama's withdrawal of troops from Iraq in 2011 was a free gift and that Mesopotamia offered a gift on a plate of gold to Iran and ISIS.
Paul Bremer joined the US diplomatic corps in 1966 and served in his country's embassies in Afghanistan, Malawi and Norway, and served as executive assistant and special assistant to six US secretaries of state. Former US President Ronald Reagan appointed him as ambassador to the Netherlands for three years since 1983
. 1986 Bremer was appointed US State Department ambassador for counterterrorism and was the president's top adviser on terrorism for the next three years Paul Bremer retired in 1989 after 23 years in the diplomatic service and joined Kissinger Associates. A consultancy headed by former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger.
And Bremer arrived in Baghdad on 12 May 2003 a personal envoy of President George W. Bush knew his time in Iraq , a series of fateful developments left a wide impact on the country 's future.
Paul Bremer joined the US diplomatic corps in 1966 and served in his country's embassies in Afghanistan, Malawi and Norway, and served as executive assistant and special assistant to six US secretaries of state. Former US President Ronald Reagan appointed him as ambassador to the Netherlands for three years since 1983
. 1986 Bremer was appointed US State Department ambassador for counterterrorism and was the president's top adviser on terrorism for the next three years Paul Bremer retired in 1989 after 23 years in the diplomatic service and joined Kissinger Associates. A consultancy headed by former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger.
And Bremer arrived in Baghdad on 12 May 2003 a personal envoy of President George W. Bush knew his time in Iraq , a series of fateful developments left a wide impact on the country 's future.
Two questions provoked Paul Bremer, during my meeting with him and called him "nonsense", and then answer defender, the first for the crime (prison) Abu Ghraib, and why did not try those who committed a fair trial? Instead of simply retiring them and withdrawing military ranks. The other is why President George W. Bush failed to form an alliance paralleled by his father in the Gulf War known as the liberation of Kuwait. Dialogue:
I am not an expert but I know the area
The question was, "Why are you? Why did you choose? Although your background is diplomatic, you have not held military or administrative positions, you have never worked in an Arab country, and there are those who say you are not an expert," he said. I lived in Afghanistan and of course not in the Middle East, people there speak a different language, they are different, but I lived there, and as a team leader in 1970 Henry Kissinger I gained experience in Middle East diplomacy, diplomacy The shuttle between Egypt and Israel, and between Syria and Israel in the wake of the Yom Kippur War In the region, but this does not make me an expert. I think that my experience in the fight against terrorism in the administrations of (presidents) Ronald Reagan and Bill Clinton, and also in the first period of the Bush administration was one of the reasons why the optional ".
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Former US President George Bush and his successor Paul Bremer (Getty Images)
I asked him, "Did you ask Bush when you chose why?" "I never asked the president why he chose me," he said. "In fact, his first words were, 'Why did you decide to accept this terrible job?'
The decision to enter Iraq was rejected by Bush Sr.
After the first Gulf War, or the second as some call it, attributing the first to the Iran-Iraq War (1980-1988), Bush HW refused to enter Iraq, and he refused. It was not the goal. I asked Paul Bremer, what prompted the United States to change the idea and the path in 2003. “During the first Gulf War I was not in government, so I have no idea what happened there. On the issue of liberating Iraq in 2003, one has to remember The information that was in the president's possession came from the intelligence of different countries, not just from the US intelligence, but from the French, Germans, Russians and British, that Saddam Hussein still has the capability to possess weapons of mass destruction.
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Former UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan and former UN weapons inspector Hans Blix (Getty Images)
The president was facing a bunch of intelligence, not just from the US intelligence community, suggesting that Saddam was still betraying and seeking weapons of mass destruction.
Where are the weapons of mass destruction?
The information Bush received from the intelligence services at the time confirmed that Saddam had weapons of mass destruction in 2003, and was not found there after the invasion, and when I asked him if this was just an excuse to invade Iraq, and how the US government felt about it when I went there and did not Can you prove it? He answered, "The story on the subject of weapons was not clear. I have never seen clear justifications as to why our intelligence services were wrong. People who are referring to this must not forget the conclusion of our inspectors, and when they did not find anything they spoke with Saddam's scientists who worked. Weapons of mass destruction. " Bremer added, referring to the conclusion of Charlie Dufour, the inspector who wrote the report at the time, that he concluded that "Saddam retained the personnel, policies and materials and that they intend to restart nuclear, chemical and biological programs once we leave." The final conclusion of the inspectors was that if the sanctions were lifted and Saddam remained in power, he would have restarted them. The fate of the material remains a mystery. You can have a lot of theories about what happened, but any sane man who had the evidence presented to President Bush would have reached the same conclusion, including Al Gore, Bush's rival.
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Former US President George Bush during his famous television address to declare war on Iraq (Getty Images)
After the United States entered Iraq and admitted that there were no weapons of mass destruction, the prevailing notion was that Washington used it as a justification for the invasion and nothing more. I asked Bremer, "So in your opinion, was it wrong to use weapons of mass destruction as a justification for the invasion? Was there no way but the invasion to get rid of Saddam?" "The Iraqi people and the United States are better off in the region today after 15 years. I have no hesitation in defending the resolution. Given the evidence with the president, there were no other options," he said.
Communication with the Arabs and intervention to stop the invasion and disband the army
Bremer insists decisively that, while carrying out his mission in Iraq, he was not familiar with the administration's diplomatic relations and contacts with other countries, especially with those that tried to intervene to reverse the invasion decision, and even the messages that were then said to have been conveyed by Saudi officials. The then crown prince, King Abdullah, carries advice to the Americans not to disband the Iraqi army.
He reiterated this when I asked him if there were any contacts with the Saudis or Egyptians, or if they wanted to intervene through consultation or not with the Iraqi file. What was their position on what happened. He replied, "When I arrived in Iraq, my job was the same as working on the Iraq file, and I was not involved in the diplomatic relationship that the State Department was working with the Saudis, Egyptians, Kuwait or others, so I have no personal information about those talks. To try to urge Iraqis to restore their country. "
Bremer extended his answer, stressing that during his stay in Iraq, no Saudi or Egyptian appeared there, nor did he go to them. But he added, "Not knowing about this does not mean it did not happen. I was the governor in Baghdad, so they could have had discussions with Saudi Arabia but I didn't know about it. I never heard any American say this too. I talked to a lot of Americans and I didn't hear that." .
In order to make sure I reiterated that he did not want to answer, and that he refused to clarify whether there were contacts with the Saudis and Egyptians, but he insisted in return, and replied, "This is only because there were no contacts, not that I do not want to answer, I do not refuse, but I tell you the truth of the matter." .
Bremer spoke on the basis of his foreign visits during his stay in Iraq, recalling a trip to Qatar at the request of President Bush, who was going there, and asked him to meet him in June 2003, denying that he had met with any Qatari official during the "I went to Bahrain to try to re-admit the Iraqi athletes at the Olympics, who were kicked out of the Olympic Games after the invasion of Kuwait," Bremer said. .
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Former US civilian administrator in Iraq Paul Bremer meets with former US President George W. Bush in Doha (Getty Images)
The Iranian interference in the Iraqi file
Many Gulf Arabs and Arabs, particularly those around Iraq, argue that the 2003 invasion of Iraq, even if the region got rid of Saddam Hussein's madness, allowed Iran to intervene and control the political decision in Mesopotamia. This point cannot be overlooked in the dialogue with the first man who came on a military plane to rule Iraq for a year and more, immediately after the fall of Saddam Hussein. But the US governor of Baghdad has another opinion and more detail.
Regarding the Iranian intervention in Iraq, Bremer says the Iranians were very careful while he was there, because the Americans had an army on their eastern and western borders, but they appeared on the border occasionally, in the form of patrols by the Iranian army or Revolutionary Guards. "They were coming to the border and our army was chasing them away and there was no confrontation. The Iranians, like the Arabs, were not working inside Iraq at the time," he said, when I asked him if there was communication or confrontation with them.
After talking about contacts with the Saudis or Egyptians and Iranian interference in Iraq, Paul Bremer turned to the Syrian intervention as "different," in the form of smuggling terrorists into Iraq across the common border. "The Syrians were involved in helping terrorists cross," he said. "There are rumors that I have no direct knowledge of, namely that countries like Saudi Arabia were financing or sponsoring the entry of some of these people, but they are not information, just suggestions or rumors."
I promised the question: Why didn't anyone stop the terrorists? "This posed a bigger problem, that we didn't have enough security during my time there," he said.
Bush's father-son alliances
US President George HW Bush succeeded in forging a huge alliance in the first Gulf War. Or why could not Bush Jr. form a broad alliance, as his father formed in the first Gulf War? And how could the forces there not prevent the flow of thousands of terrorists across Syria's borders?
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Former US President George HW Bush, along with his top aides, on the eve of the decision to fight the Kuwait Liberation War (Getty Images)
The question provoked Bremer strongly. The Dutch had a brigade in Diwaniya, the Ukrainians had a brigade in Kut, the Italians had a brigade in Nasiriyah, and the Japanese in the north and Koreans in Erbil.
So why didn't this huge coalition prevent Al Qaeda from crossing from Syria into Iraq? Bremer's answer this time was an explanation of Iraq's geographic divisions: "If you are in Diwaniya, you can't control the Syrian border." "The problem was that there were not enough American forces, because the brigades or other battalions were stationed in the cities, and they did not control the Syrian border. "So the border was not controlled, and the Syrians were encouraged to cross the border, perhaps the Iranians at some point." It is a signal from Bremer how Iran and Syria were sponsoring terrorist convoys into Iraq.
Saddam Hussein the friend and the enemy
Saddam Hussein lost the American ally, who supported him in the eighties of the last century at all levels to fight Iran, and later turned into an enemy, which prompted the Americans to invade Iraq, asked Paul Bremer here, "What turned Saddam Hussein into the arch enemy of the Americans?"
Ambassador Bremer did not consider that Saddam was an ally of the Americans, but that their support was limited to a few years, that is, it was only a temporary ally. "Saddam's brutality toward his people, especially the Kurds, is one of the main causes of the loss of the American ally. He committed genocide against the Kurds in the 1980s and used chemical weapons against them in Halabja in March 1988. This first began to shift opinion in the states." In addition to the deterioration of our relations with Iran, which began using Hezbollah to kill Americans in Lebanon in 1983, through the attack on the naval barracks and the attack on the US embassy, I think that during the era of President Ronald Reagan the equation shifted from confronting Iran and Iraq, to confrontation against Syria and Iran N they did not have much support in the administration. "
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Paul Bremer says Saddam Hussein was not US ally in 1980s (Getty Images)
He said relations with Saddam reached their worst stage in the 1990s "when the latter showed a clear ambition to bring Kuwait into Iraq by invading it and called it" conservative. " During the 1990s, any sympathy they had for Saddam ended. "
The Iraqi army disbanded
When we mention Paul Bremer's name, we must talk about the two fateful decisions he made in Iraq: the dissolution of the Iraqi army and the dissolution of the Baath Party. Both resolutions contributed to demographic and political changes in Iraq. In his interviews, however, Bremer has repeatedly said that he has erred in using the word "solution" for the military. There was no army when he arrived in Iraq.
Based on one of the most important decisions taken in the history of Iraq and changed the course of events in it, I asked him, "Where was the danger in keeping the Iraqi army?"
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The dissolution of the Iraqi army was one of the most important decisions taken by Paul Bremer while working in Iraq (Reuters)
His response was quick: "There was no way to keep the army because it had not been anywhere in Iraq since the fall of Baghdad." "At the time of the fall of Baghdad on April 9, there was no Iraqi army unit carrying weapons anywhere in the country," said Bremer. He dismissed himself. The term is not elegant, but they actually went to their homes. "If I made a mistake at the time, it was to use the word (solution)," he said.
The governor of Iraq, the civil governor says that the most important problem that emerged at the time after he arrived and discovered that the army does not exist, is the army must be called back? The view of the US government, the Pentagon, and the military, according to Bremer, was that it should not be done, because the military was the main instrument in Saddam's brutality against his own people.
Paul Bremer asked me to talk a lot about the Iraqi army. The conscripts saw the army losing the war and fled. Before they left, they destroyed the barracks, sometimes taking windows and toilets. There was no place to return the army.
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Paul Bremer on his way to Baghdad (Getty Images)
Attitudes of the components of the people from the re-army
The main issue, according to Bremer, when he talked about the reality of the Iraqi army in detail and the public's perception of it, was that all factions saw him as the means by which Saddam carried out his atrocities against them for 30 years, so there was no political opinion in favor of recalling him. "The Kurdish leaders Jalal Talabani and Massoud Barzani told me clearly that they heard rumors about the presence of some American officers who wanted to call the army, and this was true, as some officers considered it a good idea," Bremer said. The same is what the Shiites heard and told Bremer.
"The Kurds were very clear in talking to me about the return of the army, and they were decisive. They told me if the army that committed a genocide against us - Barzani himself lost 3,000 of his relatives in the genocide - we will be separated from Iraq," he said. That means we would have been fighting a civil war already in 2003. "
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Paul Bremer says Kurds have threatened to secede from Iraq if the Iraqi army is not disbanded (Getty Images)
Bremer went on to talk about the Shiites and their opinion on the dissolution of the Iraqi army, saying: "Shiites, who make up the majority of the population, about 50 percent of them, according to some statistics indicate, no one knows the actual number, they cooperated with us under instructions and a fatwa from the (top Shiite authority in Iraq). "Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani." Shiite leaders told me if you do that, and you prepare the army, you are repeating "Saddamism", but without Saddam.
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Paul Bremer during his visit to Hillah Religious University (Getty Images)
I asked him about the Sunnis, the third component. "They also did not want to return the army, and they never asked us. Sunnis also joined the Governing Council, Arabs and Kurds."
Despite the unanimity of not wanting to call up the old army, Bremer told us a story in April 2004, proving that they were right in their decision not to do so. "At that time we had a very difficult time in Fallujah. Summoning a brigade from the old army, the Marines did it alone without consulting me or Washington, and said they would use this brigade to enter and clean Fallujah, where it was in complete chaos, the only time we called an old brigade, but instead of doing so The brigade joined the enemy, so the general was summoned by a Absolved. This is conclusive evidence that it can not call the old army without doing what we were doing, which confirm the details. The only time I think where someone it was a good idea, it was a disaster and failed miserably. "
The formation of the new army of Iraq!
After the dissolution of the Iraqi army and the rejection of the Iraqi components of the idea of re-recall, the United States took several measures, before the implementation of the plan to create a new army, including the payment of salaries and acceptance of applications to form a new army. When the army was not called, and the pensions increased at least twice, if they had stayed in Saddam's army, we gave them a financial increase, sent them home, and allowed any element of the old army up to the rank of colonel, to apply for a job in the new army, There was no discrimination against them I ran Iraq 14 months later, 80 percent of the officers, non-commissioned officers and recruits, were from the old army. ”
Although there were not enough coalition and US forces to prevent the smuggling of terrorists through the Al-Qaim crossing at the Syrian-Iraqi border, Bremer said earlier in the meeting, which was a major problem at the time, he believes that it was the army that defeated Al-Qaeda in 2009, and ISIS in 2011 and 2012, "the Iraqi army was trained by the Americans."
The formation of terrorist groups in Iraq during the war
Many terrorist groups were established in Iraq during the US invasion. Like the Mujahideen Shura Council, the Islamic State of Iraq and others, and Iran, which asked Bashar al-Assad to send as many terrorists as possible to Iraq at the time, benefited from the battles between some of these terrorist groups and US military targets. "How were these groups established in Iraq from 2003 to 2009, and how they merged and formed ISIS?" He replied, "Al Qaeda was already active in Iraq before the invasion, through a terrorist group called Ansar al-Islam based in the Kurdish region. They evolved mainly to al-Qaeda in Iraq and eventually formed ISIS For Bremer, "ISIS is actually the third version of al-Qaeda."
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Iraq witnessed a series of bloody suicide attacks during the presence of US forces in the country (Getty Images)
When I told him, "But these groups have increased and their numbers have grown." I was in favor. "Your words are true, the Iranians had an interest in complicating things before us.
I asked him how, what did the Iranians do to complicate things? "When I was there, the Iranians were very quiet, maybe they were helping or encouraging the Syrians. Most of the terrorists coming from Libya came through Syria," he replied.
The Baath Party was dissolved
The second decree issued by Paul Bremer during his reign in Iraq was the dissolution of the Baath Party, which many likened to the actions taken by the United States and Britain in Germany during World War II, when it dissolved the Nazi Party, and wanted to apply it in Iraq to the Baath Party. Iraqis say, "Thank God, the United States has not changed the Iraqi flag." After the dissolution of the party there was information that most of its members, especially those in high positions, had returned to their homes and started fighting against the Americans, even against their own people. The best example is Izzat al-Douri, or as he was known under Saddam, the "second Baathist man" and others who created their own groups and tried to attack. Was the Ba'ath Party solution really helpful? Wouldn't it have been better to turn it into a political party? This is what I asked Bremer, who began talking about splitting terrorists or creating terrorist groups, saying that he does not rule out that this has happened, and it is a theory contained but does not have evidence, not even intelligence. "The senior members of the Baath Party, the most prominent ministers and deputy ministers, left most of them when I arrived there. As far as we know, they left the country. I have never heard of any of them taking part in the fight against the Americans.
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Former Iraqi President Saddam Hussein during a meeting of members of his regime (Getty Images)
"If it is true that some members of the Baath Party have turned into fighters against their own people and American forces, their rightful place is not in power." He insisted they were free to work, open shops and sell cars imported from Jordan. Thousands of them have become law-abiding citizens.
Returning to the dissolution of the Baath Party, Bremer began his response comparing the Nazis to the Baath. .
The decision to dissolve the party, or expel its senior members, Bremer said, was made on the recommendation of thousands of Iraqis in London, Europe, Washington and everywhere. Those who spoke to the Foreign Ministry in 2001 and 2002 produced a study entitled "The Future of Iraq".
"The Baath Party was certainly not a popular party, so the US government took this as evidence from the Iraqis and decided to follow the model of dissolving the Nazi party, but on a more moderate level and in two ways. "To put things in perspective, the Baath Party was made up of two million members, out of 27 million Iraqis, representing only 10 percent of the Iraqi people." Bremer did not consider that what happened was a comprehensive national removal as it was in Germany in 1945.
Bremer returned to compare what happened with the Baath Party in Iraq and Nazism, and said that the United States did not restrict the work of the party members after its dissolution, and this is the opposite of what happened with the Nazi Party in Germany, but allowed them in Iraq to work. There were 100 newspapers three weeks after I was there, and they could open television and radio stations, set up shops on the street to sell appliances, and so many did. ”In addition, 800,000 Nazis were imprisoned in Germany and Nazi party members were prevented from playing any role in Economy, but we have not imprisoned anyone. "
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Paul Bremer during his visit to Hilla on June 8, 2003 (Getty Images)
Frightened of Washington and the big vacuum!
Two views prevailed after the dissolution of the Baath Party. His United States, into a sectarian state and not a democracy. Asked what he thinks, Bremer replied: "Iraq is a sectarian state a thousand years ago, no more sectarian than it was during the rule of the Ottomans, Hashemites or Baathists." Even if the Shiites had ruled for a thousand years, they would not have been different. "
What happened after the dissolution of the Baath Party?
How did the dissolution of the Baath Party change Iraq, and what happened after the country was out of Saddam Hussein's control? All the questions were raised during the preparations for the interview with Paul Bremer with what the "popular mobilization" is doing today there, and was it possible if Iraq was still under the rule of Saddam Hussein? Qasim Soleimani, commander of the Quds Force of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards, enters and exits the country and stores rockets uncontrollably. US forces are in Iraq. All these political and demographic changes contributed to the dissolution of the Baath Party and no one was able to fix them. What was Paul Bremer's opinion?
Bremer responded from the basic decisions he made (dissolving the army and the Baath Party), and what the United States meant through them. "I don't think there is any controversy about the validity of the decision we made at the time.
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Paul Bremer attending a session of the Governing Council
The dissolution of the Baath Party did not come arbitrarily, but took a deep and careful study. The coalition, we cannot tell whether Baath Party members joined it because they believed in its ideology, or because they were forced to do so. "
The second mistake Paul Bremer admitted to committing was to hand over power to Iraqi politicians who misused his decree despite his belief in the validity of his decision to dissolve the Baath Party. But he considered it would have been better to turn to the judges and set up a committee to look into matters. Bremer said, "The politicians went wrong with the details of the implementation of the decree and went too far, but at that time the Governing Council was pushing for greater powers. Council "de-Baathification Council" chaired by the Iraqis.
Bremer went on to talk about the judges and linked this to the brutality of Saddam during his rule. When he wanted to kill anyone, he would simply hand him over to any military commissioner. "
"The Iraqis have had a high level of law study, like the Egyptians, especially since the 1920s during the British colonial era, they have good lawyers and judges," he said of his mistake in handing over power to Iraqi politicians.
Bremer went on to elaborate on the status of the judges during Saddam Hussein's rule in Iraq. Some 613 of them were completely clean, and they were not in contact with Saddam. ".
Settling old accounts towards the Baathists
Many Iraqi politicians, Bremer says, went beyond what was agreed upon in the decree dissolving the Baath Party, and hunting down whoever belonged to or supported the party. "About six or seven months after we entered, 11,000 university professors lost their jobs," the ambassador said.
"But this mistake has led to many people losing their jobs, and I feared others from participating in the government again. How would you rate this?" Paul Bremer, during my meeting with him, always insisted that he was solely responsible for his time in Iraq. Reduce their employment opportunities.
The exceptions, of course, existed and were mentioned in the provisions of the decree dissolving the Baath Party, according to Bremer, who reserved himself in a clause in the last section the right to make exceptions if required. This is what happened repeatedly, one of which was when his advisers advised him to keep an employee of the power company irreplaceable, because he knows the details of the technology of operating the transmission towers 400 kW. "I agreed to a lot of exceptions to keep people in their jobs because they need them."
The exceptions, of course, existed and were mentioned in the provisions of the decree dissolving the Baath Party, according to Bremer, who reserved himself in a clause in the last section the right to make exceptions if required. This is what happened repeatedly, one of which was when his advisers advised him to keep an employee of the power company irreplaceable, because he knows the details of the technology of operating the transmission towers 400 kW. "I agreed to a lot of exceptions to keep people in their jobs because they need them."
Democracy in Iraq
In the midst of the decree, the dissolution of the party and the army and the consequences of the two fateful decisions in the history of Iraq, we must ask a question about the guilt of those who carried out and obeyed the decisions of Saddam during his rule, he did not leave them the luxury of choice. He was a dictator who was obeyed by everyone for fear of killing or torturing them. My question here is why should those people who had no guilt pay the price?
Bremer replied that the Iraqis with whom the US State Department had contacted for two years before the invasion of Iraq were the owners of the idea of dissolving the Baath Party and issued their reports, called "The Future of Iraq." This was a recommendation from the Iraqi people.
"Simply put, the ideas of some of those who participated in the resolution may be retaliatory from Saddam or his party," he said, defending the post-invasion era. "I don't know who they were," he replied. "They spoke to thousands of them, and certainly they included Sunnis, Shiites, Kurds, Yazidis, Christians and Turkmen.
"Simply put, the ideas of some of those who participated in the resolution may be retaliatory from Saddam or his party," he said, defending the post-invasion era. "I don't know who they were," he replied. "They spoke to thousands of them, and certainly they included Sunnis, Shiites, Kurds, Yazidis, Christians and Turkmen.
Paul Bremer considers Iraq the only Arab country except Tunisia (which held its first elections in 2011), which had four parliamentary elections before the Arab Spring, he said.
This was his answer when I asked him, "You said you would turn Iraq into a democratic state. Do you see that day in Iraq, even though many don't see it?" The arrival of Adel Abdul-Mahdi as prime minister last year, Iraq has achieved the fifth peaceful transition in a row peacefully. "This has never happened in any Arab country."
I entered into the details of this question, we can not be sure that democracy is always represented in elections or voting, and the sectarian composition of the current Iraqi government is clear to all. Nuri al-Maliki has been deported more than once, but he always returns. When Shafir had to lose everything, he threatened his militias that he would return to power. I asked him where he sees democracy in that structure in which Sistani plays a key role, and where Qasim Soleimani is the real ruler of Iraq. "I don't think there is absolute democracy anywhere in the world, even here," he replied. Bremer said that the situation in Iraq is not very good, because the United States has reduced its interest in the region, especially during the era of President Barack Obama, who withdrew US troops from Iraq in 2011, and this continues with President Donald Trump. "
US military withdrawal from Iraq
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"I'm not defending the situation there now," Bremer said. They followed this path, no one can know whether they will continue forever. "
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US soldiers take commemorative photographs before leaving Iraq (AFP)
After all about the dissolution of the Iraqi army and the peaceful transition of power in Iraq, I asked Bremer, "How do you think the Iraqis will be able to defend their country without any dependence or interference from outside parties? One defends his country? " "The Iranians have managed to build an effective base inside Iraq, including the Popular Mobilization," he said. "No two disagree that what has been happening there since 2011 is going wrong in terms of US interests as well as Iraqi and other non-Persian countries in the region."
"The current Iraqi prime minister, Adel Abdul-Mahdi, tried to put the Hashd under the central command, and we were in the same position while we were there. Every militia should be put under the central administration. . Bremer continued, “What is needed to reform the situation there is a non-sectarian government that is unique in using force under the control of the central government. Be the American goal. "
At the end of the answer to my question, he talked about the attacks carried out by Iran on the Saudi Aramco facilities in Abqaiq and Khurais by drones. What happens". We will return to this file later in the interview.
Iranian expansion in the region
In previous files, Bremer talked about the Iranian presence in Iraq through "popular mobilization" and Iranian cooperation with Syria to introduce terrorists. He replied, "These measures did not necessarily have these results," but in his view the US presence in Iraq was solid until 2011, knowing that the Iranian influence was greater than the era of Saddam. The decision to withdraw US troops from Iraq by President Barack Obama was the beginning of taking the wrong course. This is where the ISIS problem came.
Although Bremer considers Obama a mistake, he does not blame him alone. "In 2003, I wrote that we don't have enough troops and we don't have the strategy. "At the end of 2006, President Bush expelled Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and decided to increase the number of troops.
Paul Bremer resembles the way Iran today acts in the Middle East with the Persian scheme. On this basis, he answered my question posed by him: Did Iran oppose the American presence in Iraq at first and later? And its attempts to destabilize the country in order to drive the United States? "While I was in Iraq, the Iranians were absent, except for a few occasions," he replied. And the Indus River, that's how the Persians think. " "I am sure that when they found that we were having trouble in Iraq in 2005 and 2006, when Bush changed policy, they took the opportunity to cause problems," Bremer said.
As to what could make Iran more dangerous, or what would make it stronger in the region now, Bremer said it was badly hit by economic sanctions. Its economy cannot be a source of strength. But that, in his opinion, makes it more dangerous. "I think what makes them strong is their ability to exert influence from Iraq through Syria to Lebanon. This leads them to the Mediterranean and that's what they want. They are seeking hegemony from the Persia Plateau to the Mediterranean."
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During the mission of Paul Bremer, Iraq witnessed developments that affected the future of the country
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Obama's decisions and troop withdrawals
It is said that President Barack Obama, who signed the Iranian nuclear agreement, was very coordinated with the Iranians in the bilateral files, even the information during his era indicated that his decision to withdraw the US military from Iraq in 2011 was a kind of coordination between the parties, but Obama had other words and arguments.
Bremer has not eliminated the possibility, but says he has no proof, and although he does not know when he started the informal talks, he believes Obama was keen to talk to Iran. "It's hard to explain his withdrawal based on what he was saying, what Obama said was that he was pulling out because the Iraqis refused to give us the SOFA and that's not true." In answering my question, Bremer recounted that Maliki came to the United States in October or November of 2011, and met with Obama and told him he was ready to sign the agreement. And he continues " We explained to him that he should get it through parliament, not with the signature of the Prime Minister. With the exception of violent crimes, as far as I know, we have never told any host country what measures it should take to approve the agreement, with the exception of Maliki, who we told him that the prime minister should not sign, and should go to parliament. The status of parliament was clear to anyone who looked at it. It seemed like an excuse to withdraw the troops. "
I added to my previous question other information saying that the withdrawal was a gift from Obama to Iran. Greater than discretion. "
Abu Ghraib prison
Abu Ghraib Prison, used by Coalition forces in Iraq, has witnessed numerous forms of torture that have caused panic for the entire world, especially after images of it have spread. The prison was under US administration during that time. Who was behind what happened in the cells of Abu Ghraib? "My second apartment is the view of those who say Abu Ghraib is the democracy that the United States wants in the region."
Bremer did not hide his discontent with the Abu Ghraib prison file and expressed regret for what was happening, describing it as horrible. "I did not have any authority over Abu Ghraib. It was a unit of the National Guard, and obviously it was very bad." "The prison commander lost her job, was fired, then retired. It was a very bad military unit. What they did was unforgivable. I didn't know anything about it until it spread." As for the second part of my question, Bremer strongly provoked him to answer, "Who said that? Anyone who knows anything about the United States, and anyone who knows how horrified everyone felt in this country because of what these people did, has no right to say." This is America. This is illogical. Whoever thinks this is what we wanted is completely wrong, they should know more about America's history. " I Saied to him "
Do you think that the expulsion of those who tortured and electrocuted Iraqi civilians and their suspension is enough punishment for them? He replied, "I am not a military judge. They have been subjected to trial and to the actions of the military judiciary.
Questions about recent events: seeing the area and attacking Aramco
We went back to talk about the strike by Iran to the two Saudi Aramco facilities mentioned earlier, and I asked him whether it would affect your opinion Aramco attack in Iran? "It depends on the reaction, the strike needs a response, and that is what will affect Iran. If not, it will be repeated and things will get out of control. A cargo berth related to its oil exports. " Bremer added that Saudi Arabia should lead the attack, because it is the facilities that have been harmed by the Iranians.
After his proposal, which in his view would affect economically tired Iran, I asked him, "Do you think this will happen?" He replied that he had doubts about this: "I am not suspicious of the Saudis, but of the US administration. Trump now holds the positions of Britain, Germany and France who have agreed that Iran is behind the attack. The presence of European allies who agree with intelligence is very important."
After talking about the strike and possible solutions, Bremer asked if he saw a future war between the two countries, each with its allies. He replied: "I do not rule out the possibility of war and consider it exist, but I think it is ironic that this opportunity is receding. To the Swiss who represent us in Tehran and express our readiness to talk, and say that it is better to start talks here or else things will get even harder. "
Iran is clearly expanding in the Middle East through its multiple arms. It stands out in Lebanon through Hezbollah and in Iraq through the “popular mobilization” and the Houthis it represents in Yemen and other activities in Syria and other countries. I asked Paul Bremer what he saw as a prospect that Iran would withdraw from the region, replying to each country separately. To the two oil facilities through a side agreement with the Houthis, where Iran reduces its support for them in return for Saudi Arabia to stop military operations. " But he did not rule out changes in Yemen, where deals with the Houthis are not impossible. "They are tools for Iranians who probably don't like them very much," he said.
Regarding Lebanon, Bremer said: "Hizbullah's involvement in Lebanon strengthens the Iranian presence there. They will not leave Lebanon under any circumstances. They have been involved in the political structure, reinforced it clearly and rearmed on the Litani front. The Iranians are interfering and will continue to intervene in Lebanon and Syria. This is clearly a threat and wrong calculations, especially for Israel, which is in the process of forming a government now.
As for the reasons that keep Iran in Syria, Bremer considered that the end of existence is unlikely unless there is some sort of settlement, which is highly unlikely, leaving Syria is not in the interest of the Iranians because it is the way to have a land bridge to transport materials through Iraq and then Syria to Lebanon. "The Russians, the Turks and the Syrians will continue to talk and try to appear acceptable," he said.
Kurds and Turkey
The Kurds have been allies of the United States of America, and cooperation between them is not the result of the moment, but has been going on for years. They have their own independent state, but so far the Kurds have not resigned. I asked Bremer if he thought America would ever deliver on its promise? "I don't know the answer to the Kurdish situation, I think it will depend on how things end with the Kurds, and with the Syrian Turkmen, especially in the vicinity of Iskenderun," he said. ". In the opinion of Bremer, the United States should try to persuade the PKK to return to negotiations with Erdogan to achieve the Kurdish goal.
"It would be better to get a negotiated solution from the Kurds of Syria, which is also a Turkish Kurdish region, but I am not very optimistic about this."
Turkey, a member of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), has recently purchased advanced air defense equipment from Russia. United is in a dilemma to reconcile its Kurdish ally with a Turkish colleague in NATO. I asked Bremer how can America keep its promises to the Kurds while maintaining its relations with Turkey? “Your question is good, but I don't know the answer,” he said. "We have already told them that buying Russian missiles is inconsistent with the purchase of our F-35s, and we will not send them. But it also raises questions in Washington about the value Turkey attaches to NATO membership. . "
Erdogan and the US administration
When answering questions about the Kurdish file, Paul Bremer listed some of what he heard from friends and diplomats, when they talked about Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, and said that they are divided into two categories. He built a $ 1 billion mansion with more than 500 rooms. Then there are other US diplomats who say it can make sense if we can get the message across. ”
"The problem is that the current administration here is not good at defining implementation strategies. President Donald Trump now appoints the fourth national security adviser, which means there is no continuity. That's why it's hard to answer your question about the attacks on the oil field," he said. "I don't know. I'm not sure that anyone in the administration knows, including the president, maybe."
She went on and asked why there were doubts? Why does he not want to move against Turkey and others? Bremer considers that the current administration's policy is unclear and there is no stable view. "I was a professional diplomat who served eight presidents from both parties and that's what the professionals do. You serve the president regardless of his policy," he explained. I am not sure that the president knows what he wants, here is the difficulty, and the same applies to Erdogan. "
After talking about the Kurdish and Turkish dossiers and relations with the United States, he concluded that he did not believe that the Kurds would soon have an independent state.
Iraq after Saddam and today
In the last paragraph of the meeting with Paul Bremer, I asked sporadic questions about his vision of what is happening in the region in general. In the opinion of Bremer, Iraqis are better off today than they were under Saddam Hussein. They choose their government and have done so five times in peace. "Per capita GDP is now six times what it was before the war, except for the production of electricity and oil, which has tripled."
Although he considered Iraq to have improved a lot, he also recalled the real problems that Iraq is experiencing at the level of non-government-controlled security forces, which are mainly Iranian-backed Popular Mobilization Units, and hinted at the need for US re-engagement in Iraq to resolve them. The problem, he said, "is 150,000, so this is a real problem and, in my view, requires re-engagement in Iraq to ensure that Iraqis can continue to enjoy the economy and political freedom they enjoy. It is not clear that these privileges will continue unless the United States re-engages there."
There is a popular theory besides the other that Obama coordinated with the Iranians through the nuclear agreement and withdrawal from Iraq, there are also say that Obama made a major mistake in the region by empowering the Muslim Brotherhood. I asked Bremer. He replied, "We did not stand up to the Muslim Brotherhood and did not deter them. Syria, but did not take any action to achieve this, and this was a very serious mistake such as the withdrawal of troops from Iraq. "
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Independent Arab Editor Two members Al-Ahmari during an interview with Paul Bremer in Washington (The Independent Arab)
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