By Eric Schmitt
New York Times
23 July 2003
The detailed set of security, economic and political objectives, to be described in a speech here by the administrator, L. Paul Bremer III, is intended to rebut growing criticism from some in Congress, aid agencies and even some military officers in Iraq that the civilian occupation authorities have no clearly defined path ahead for postwar rebuilding.
Since arriving here from Baghdad over the weekend, Mr. Bremer has appeared on the Sunday news programs, met with lawmakers and conferred with President Bush's top advisers to outline his blueprint for what many officials say is a make-or-break period for the reconstruction. He is to meet with Mr. Bush on Wednesday. "There's a lot of talk that we have no plan, and don't know what we're doing," Mr. Bremer said in interview at the Pentagon today. "Well, we have a plan and we're executing that plan."
Mr. Bremer acknowledged that his $6 billion budget for the next six months would nearly deplete his available funds, from sources like appropriated money and Iraqi oil revenue, and his budget for the 2004 fiscal year was now projected to run a deficit. "We'll need more money," he said, noting that allies will hold a donor's conference in Europe in October. Mr. Bremer said he was awaiting a comprehensive assessment by the World Bank of what was needed in Iraq, which he expected by about Sept. 10.
Mr. Bremer, on the job for about two months, said one task on his visit was to manage expectations of the pace of reconstruction. He said most of the damage to Iraq's power grid, water system, ministries and other infrastructure was from three decades of neglect under Saddam Hussein, not the three-week war, and would take years to fix.
The plan Mr. Bremer is to outline at the National Press Club here, a draft of which was obtained by The New York Times, sets 60-day and 120-day deadlines for accomplishments in a wide range of areas, and forecasts some goals well into next year.
For example, on security, the American-led occupation force is aiming within the next 60 days to recruit and train one battalion of a new Iraq national army; create eight battalions, or nearly 7,000 members, of a new Iraqi civil defense force that will free thousands of American troops for antiguerrilla missions; operate a police academy for new recruits, which has just started in Baghdad; resume trials before a central criminal court; and start training new judges.
Many of these goals are well under way. The only question is whether they will meet the deadlines, and Mr. Bremer acknowledged that there would probably be instances where the allies would fall short.
Throughout most of the country, Iraqis are urging the allies to restore electricity, and Mr. Bremer has pledged to restore power to prewar levels within the next 60 days. That will mean diverting some electricity from Baghdad, which in recent years has enjoyed power nearly 24 hours a day, to outlying provinces.
Mr. Bremer is also focusing on reviving Iraq's economy by permitting private banks to help state banks, assist state-owned enterprises that employed thousands of people, and begin a loan program to stimulate small to medium businesses, including those run by women. The allies will also work to devise a plan to spend the country's oil revenues and reform its tax system.
On the civil affairs side, the allies intend in the next 60 days to help establish independent media outlets, support the new Iraqi Governing Council's efforts to create a new constitution, and support the interim ministers and their senior advisers among the allies.
Relaying information about this plan and the allies' goals for Iraq to the Iraqi public, through radio, television and other news media, has been less successful, American officials said. "We need to do a much better job in public information," Deputy Defense Secretary Paul D. Wolfowitz said after a five-day trip to Iraq.
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Citation: Eric Schmitt, "U.S. to Outline 60-Day Plan for Iraq Rebuilding Projects," New York Times, 23 July 2003
Original URL: http://www.nytimes.com/2003/07/23/international/middleeast/23BREM.html?pagewanted=print&position=
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