COLUMN: 02-07-2007

Paul Bremer, the former head of the Provisional Authority installed after the invasion of Iraq, appeared before Congress this week and defended the insane policies of disbursing $12 billion in cash for reconstruction in the first few months after the invasion of Iraq. His justification that Iraq was in a "desperate situation" and that they could not wait to install a modern financial system belies the fact that this desperate situation was caused by a rush to war and poor post-war planning due to unrealistic expectations of being greeted as liberators rather than conquerors. A large portion of this $12 billion in American taxpayer money was stolen or given to corrupt officials and Bremer and his colleagues should be held accountable for their mismanagement, which not only allowed American money to be stolen, but created a situation which fostered the insurgency that has resulted in the deaths of thousands of American soldiers and tens of thousands of innocent Iraqi civilians.