Ambassador L. Paul Bremer III Former U.S. Diplomat Leads Historic Effort to Rebuild Iraq by John Shaw Ambassador L. Paul Bremer III, the recently appointed civil administrator of Iraq, has, shall we say, a few things on his plate. The former U.S. diplomat is trying to rebuild a shattered country, revive its basic services, install a democracy, calm a frightened and suspicious people, navigate a byzantine and poisonous political environment, and succeed in the most complex and costly nation-building exercise the United States has undertaken in half a century. And he is trying to accomplish all of this in boiling heat, under sharp international scrutiny, and with recriminationsóand sometimes bulletsóflying around him from morning to night. To make his task even more challenging, Bremer must perform his work in a way that pleases both Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld, Secretary of State Colin Powell and President Bushóon the eve of a re-election campaign in which doubts about Bushís Iraq policy are growing and his approval ratings are sliding. In an interview with The Washington Diplomat in late July before a speech at the Nati onal Press Club, Bremer said his long career in diplomacy and his more recent career in crisis management did not fully prepare him for the devastation and chaos he confronts every day in Iraq. ìWhen I arrived in May it was my first visit to Iraq and my reaction was shock and awe. I hadnít envisioned the extent to which Saddam had neglected Iraqís infrastructure,î he said. ìIt was incredible. Almost unimaginable.î Bremer said he brings to Iraq a fresh perspective on the nation. ìI had never been to Iraq before May. And I didnít have a specific background in the region, in the Middle East,î he said. ìDepending on whom you talk to, that is either an advantage or disadvantage.î Smooth, polished and tough, Bremer said he believes the United States and its allies are making steady advances in Iraq. ìWeíre making a lot of progress, a great deal of progress. Itís a shame this has not been reported more fully in the American press,î he said. ìWe have a plan, and we obviously have to react to events on the ground. As I often say, itís important to have strategic clarity and tactical flexibility.î Bremer said that mounting criticism of the U.S.-led effort to secure and rebuild Iraq often fails to consider the enormity of the endeavor and the pace by which other nation-building efforts have occurred in the past. ìWeíre way ahead of where we were at a comparable stage in Japan and Germany after World War II or even more recently in Kosovo and Bosnia.î Bremer, who at times is referred to as Iraqís viceroy, overlord or proconsul, is formally the head of the Coalition Provisional Authority. Selected by Rumsfeld and Bush to replace Jay M. Garner, a retired Army lieutenant general, Bremerís job blends the demands of a private sector chief executive officer, wartime general and peace-time prime minister. Holding significant power in Iraq, Bremer also faces stunning challenges. Some analysts say that Americaís success or failure in Iraq could influence U.S. foreign policy for a generation to come. Fully aware that the stakes are huge, Bremer works long, disciplined days and uses private sector terms such as ìmetricî and ìbenchmarksî to gauge his progress. ìItís very, very important we do this right,î he said. Based in Baghdad, Bremer sleeps in a small trailer on the grounds of one of Saddam Husseinís former presidential palaces. He gets up at 5 a.m. most mornings and goes for a run. Working out of the palace, he then assembles his team for 8 a.m. staff meetings in a wood-paneled office that was once the epicenter of Saddamís government, reviewing developments and projects with national security, economic and communications aides. Bremer tours Baghdad and other parts of Iraq in an armored Chevrolet Suburban. He gives weekly addresses that are broadcast on television and radio networks throughout Iraq and meets with the English and Arab press each week. Ever dapper, he often wears a blue blazer and white kerchief even in Iraqís blazing heat. During his recent trip to Washington, Bremer repeatedly emphasized in speeches and press briefings that the United States and its allies confront three main challenges in Iraq: securing the country, rebuilding the economy, and establishing democratic institutions. Bremer added that in each of these areas his team has established specific 60-day, 120-day and 360-day goals. The ambassador said the security situation in Iraq is improving, noting that when he first arrived, Baghdad was a city with no traffic on the streets, rampant looting and virtually no signs of commerce. In those days, Bremer slept with earplugs to muffle the sound of gunfire that erupted throughout the night. The U.S.-led coalition is working hard to bolster security by helping to hire and train Iraqi police and creating a new army and civil defense corps, Bremer said. He predicted the security situation would continue to improve in the coming months but added that Saddamís loyalists and terrorists based in Iraq from other nations will keep the nation unruly for some time. Regarding the economy, Bremer said the immediate situation is difficult but could have been much worse if the war had been less successful. His primary focus now is to make sure the Iraqi people receive basic services, such as power, water and health care. However, given the countryís dilapidated infrastructureó which suffered from massive underinvestment by Saddamóit will be difficult to provide even minimal services to the Iraqi people, Bremer said, noting that it will cost about $13 billion just to meet basic power demands. The United Nations has earmarked about $16 billion over the next four years to provide adequate water for the Iraqi people. Bremer said that reconstructing government buildings or repairing power lines will not be enough to bring about sustainable growth. That growth instead will require a fundamental economic transformation to overcome three decades of mismanagement and neglect. The ambassador said Iraq badly needs a usable currency to facilitate trade and has set an Oct. 15 launch for new bank notes. He argues that the Central Bank of Iraq should be independent of the Ministry of Finance and that future economic strength will also require streamlined business regulations and licensing rules, a functioning commercial code, and a fair judicial system to enforce the new laws and regulations. Bremer said he expects to see economic improvements before long but added that Iraq will be a poor country for years to come. More candid than most Bush administration officials regarding the cost of the Americaís involvement in Iraq, Bremer has said the bill to rebuild that nation could easily approach $100 billion. Some private analysts have said the full reconstruction costs could surpass $500 billion. To help with the massive reconstruction costs, Bremer said the United States will need help from the international community to rebuild Iraqís economy. A U.N. donorís conference for Iraq is scheduled for October to secure financial commitments from nations around the world. A student of history, Bremer said a careful review of the past demonstrates that economic freedom and political freedom go hand in hand, and as such, the coalitionís work will not be complete until there is a sovereign democratic government in Iraq. Bremer envisions this political reform unfolding in three phases. First, the evolution of Iraqís Governing Council, which was established on July 13. This council, he said, has for the first time in Iraqís history brought together a balanced, representative group of political leaders. The second phase will be the convening of a constitutional conference and the adoption of new constitution, and the third phase will entail the election of a free and democratic government. Bremer noted that elections could be held in a year. Although Bremer confronts an almost impossible job, he brings to his work formidable credentials. Born in Hartford, Conn., on Sept. 30, 1941, Bremer received a bachelorís degree in history from Yale and a masterís of business degree from the Harvard Graduate School of Business Administration. He then joined the State Department, where his 23-year career in the Foreign Service took him to posts in Afghanistan, Malawi and Norway. After serving as ambassador to the Netherlands from 1983 to 1986, Bremer was named President Reaganís ambassador-at-large for counterterrorism. During his Foreign Service career, he has also worked under six secretaries of state . Bremer left the government in 1989 to become managing director of a consulting firm established by Henry Kissinger, for whom Bremer served as an executive assistant in the 1970s. During the 1990s, Bremer wrote extensively about the threats to the United States posed by international terrorism. He chaired an important congressional panel known as the Bremer Commission that issued a grim warning in 2000 about the perils of terrorism. In October 2001, Bremer was appointed chairman and chief executive officer of the crisis-consulting arm of insurance giant Marsh & McLennan, and in 2002 he was also appointed to Bushís Homeland Security Advisory Council. On May 6 of this year, Bush named Bremer the administrator of the Coalition Provisional Authority in Iraq, saying Bremer enjoyed the ìfull confidenceî and the ìfull blessingsî of his administration. Since arriving in Iraq on May 12, Bremer has been called the most powerful man in Iraqóand arguably the most powerful American overseas since Gen. Douglas MacArthur supervised the reconstruction of Japan. But he still faces a daunting task. A high-profile task force from the Center for Strategic and International Studies returned from a tour of Iraq in July and said the window of opportunity for rebuilding Iraq and instituting a democracy there is closing rapidly. Bremer acknowledged that difficult days are ahead for Americans in Iraq, but he has vowed that the United States will do everything necessary to help Iraq become a stable, secure and functioning democracy. And in case anyone doubts Bremerís resolve, he is quick to note that there is a hand-carved motto sitting on his desk in Baghdad that proclaims: ìSuccess has a thousand fathers.î When asked about the other half of this aphorismóthe part that says failure is an orphanóBremer offered a clear and confident response: ìThere wonít be any failure.î John Shaw is a contributing writer for The Washington Diplomat.