Bremer claims he didn't see insurgency coming

Bremer says the U.S. did not expect the insurgency in Iraq. He must have been in the same bubble with Bush, Cheney and Rummy. They didn't need to listen to people like Retired Marine Gen. Anthony Zinni who headed the U.S. Central Command from 1997 -2000. Central Command commands U.S. forces in much of the Middle East and Central Asia, he knows region well and had a long history dealing with the area including Iraq. He made the comments below 6 months before the Iraq invasion. Either the Bush cabal didn't care or they are incompetent not to have been prepared. Bremers remarks, source: Reuters 06 Jan 2006 21:41:49 GMT WASHINGTON, Jan 6 (Reuters) - Paul Bremer, who led the U.S. civilian occupation authority in Iraq after the 2003 invasion, has admitted the United States did not anticipate the insurgency in the country, NBC Television said on Friday. Bremer, interviewed by the network in connection with release of his book on Iraq, recounted the decision to disband the Iraqi army quickly after arriving in Baghdad, a move many experts consider a major miscalculation. When asked who was to blame for the subsequent Iraqi rebellion, in which thousands of Iraqis and Americans have died, Bremer said "we really didn't see the insurgency coming," the network said in a news release. ............... But he told NBC "there was a tendency by people in the Pentagon to exaggerate the capability of the Iraqi forces and I felt it was not likely we would have professionally trained forces to allow us to withdraw American forces in the spring of 2004." Asked if he believes he did everything he could do in Iraq, Bremer replied, "I believe I did everything I could do. ... The president, in the end, is responsible for making decisions," the network reported. From: A GENERAL SPEAKS ON WAR WITH IRAQ October 31, 2002 Retired Marine Gen. Anthony Zinni headed the U.S. Central Command, which commands U.S. forces in much of the Middle East and Central Asia, from 1997 to 2000, and is now a CDI Distinguished Military Fellow. On Oct. 10, 2002, he spoke before the Middle East Institute in Washington, D.C. about a new war with Iraq, whether the time is right, and what would have to happen for military action to turn out in the best possible way. excerpt: My next point was that order has to be kept. If we think there is a fast solution to changing the governance of Iraq, then we don't understand history, the nature of the country, the divisions, or the underneath suppressed passions that could rise up. God help us if we think this transition will occur easily. We are going to need a period of order. We're going to need to have people come together. We're going to have to lower the passion, and we're going to have to control events in some way. That's going to be extremely difficult. There were 98 opposition groups the last time I counted; I think now it has increased a little bit. If you believe that they're all going to rush to the palace, hold hands and sing Kum Ba Yah, I doubt it. (laughter) If you think that people won't see opportunity to do things that will cause concern in the region, whether to the Iranians, the Turks or others, and go against what we hope will happen and against agreements that will be made, then I think you could be sadly mistaken. If you think it's going to be easy to impose a government or install one from the outside, I think that you're further sadly mistaken and that you don't understand this region. Comments: Gen. Anthony Zinni (ret.) during a speech before the Florida Economic Club, Aug. 23, 2002: You could inherit the country of Iraq, if you're willing to do it -- if our economy is so great that you're willing to put billions of dollars into reforming Iraq. If you want to put soldiers that are already stretched so thin all around the world and add them into a security force there forever, like we see in places like the Sinai. If you want to fight with other countries in the region to try to keep Iraq together as Kurds and Shiites try and split off, you're going to have to make a good case for that. And that's what I think has to be done, that's my honest opinion.