L. Paul Bremer III

L. Paul Bremer III ("Jerry") author of My Year In Iraq: The Struggle to Build a Future of Hope was Chairman and CEO of the Crisis Consulting Practice of Marsh, Inc., a subsidiary of the Marsh & McLennan Companies (MMC). Marsh Crisis Consulting assists corporations in planning for, managing, and recovering from a "full range of crises such as financial misconduct, natural disasters, product recalls, class action lawsuits and terrorism."

In 2000, Bremer served on the National Commission on Terrorism. He also served on the National Academy of Science Commission to examine the role of science and technology in countering terrorism. He chaired the March 2002 Heritage Foundation study -- Defending the Homeland. He continues on the Advisory Panel to Assess Domestic Response Capabilities for mass destruction terrorism. On June 11, 2002, Bremer was appointed to President George Walker Bush's Homeland Security Advisory Council. Bremer replaced Jay Garner as the top civilian administrator of post-war Iraq in May of 2003, carrying the title of Administrator of the Coalition Provisional Authority.

In 1981, Bremer was appointed Executive Secretary of the State Department by Secretary Alexander Haig. Bremer directed the State Department's 24-hour a day crisis management and emergency response center. He was named Ambassador to the Netherlands in 1983 and, in 1986, President Ronald Reagan appointed Bremer as Ambassador-at-Large for Counter Terrorism.

Bremer served at the Embassies in Afghanistan and Malawi, as well as service as Deputy Ambassador at the American Embassy in Norway. President Reagan named him as Ambassador to the Netherlands in 1983 where he served for three years.

Bremer was a Managing Director of Kissinger Associates, Inc. (1989-2001). Bremer joined Kissinger after serving twenty-three years of service in the Diplomatic Corps under six Secretaries of State.

Bremer is also the Founder and President of the Lincoln/Douglass Scholarship Foundation, which is a Washington-based non-profit organization that provides high school scholarships to inner city youths.

Bremer received his BA from Yale University, a CIEP (Certificat international d'études politiques) from the Institut d'études politiques in Paris, and an MBA from Harvard Graduate School of Business Administration. His languages are French, Dutch and Norwegian.

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A neo-conservative ideologue, Bremer was responsible for two of the Bush Administration's most disastrous mistakes in Iraq: --Eric Margolis

• disbanding Iraq's Army,
• and firing tens of thousands of government bureaucrats because they were Ba'ath party members.

• Any junior imperialist knows the first thing you do when you conquer someone's country is to buy the loyalty of its existing armed forces, government and police. Otherwise you will have armies of angry, unemployed potential rebels roaming the streets - Iraq being Exhibit A.

• Bremer's third horrible blunder came this week [early April 2004]. The US Proconsul, who is supposedly bringing the light of democracy to Iraq, shut down a tiny, 10,000 circulation Shia newspaper and arrested its editor for `spreading anti-American views' and calling Bremer rude names. The paper's publisher was firebrand Shia mullah Moqtada al-Sadr, who has been calling on Iraqis to resist US occupation.

Bremer turned Sadr, a little-respected junior cleric with a limited following, into an overnight hero to restive Shias, and a new American villain. Bremer's latest imbecility caused Iraq's Shia majority, which was simmering with anti-American passions, to explode into violence. Washington and US forces were caught totally by surprise, though warnings were aplenty.

See related articles on the Iraqi unified resistance and the Shiite Muslim uprising in Iraq.

TruthAboutIraq website

A consultant to Bremer, Steven E. Moore, has a website truthaboutiraq that offers this insight

"After working in Iraq for nine months doing focus groups and polling and advising Ambassador Bremer on Iraqi public opinion, Steven Moore returned to the United States in May 2004. Upon returning, he was astounded to find how sharply his experience in Iraq differed from that being communicated on television."

Affiliations

• Trustee, Economic Club of New York
• Director, Air Products and Chemicals, Inc.
• Director, Akzo Nobel NV
• Director, Harvard Business School Club of New York
• Director, The Netherland-America Foundation
• Senior Advisor, Americans for Victory Over Terrorism (AVOT)
• Member, International Institute for Strategic Studies
• Member, Council on Foreign Relations

Resources

Also see

• Operation Iraqi Freedom

External links

• Lucy May, "Homeland security adviser speaks to local business leaders," Cincinnati Business Courier, February 25, 2003.
• Bill Berkowitz, Background and Analysis, Working for Change, May 9, 2003.
• Media Mouse, L. Paul Bremer Comes to Grand Rapids: A Critical Look at his Record" Mediamouse.org, October 8, 2004.
• L. Paul Bremer III, Opinion: "How I Didn’t Dismantle Iraq’s Army," New York Times, September 6, 2007.

Presidential Envoy to Iraq

• "Special report: Iraq. Key coalition figures in Iraq"; Guardian Unlimited/UK.
• Michael Hirsh, "The State Dept. Wins One. Bush plans to give a career diplomat authority over Gen. Garner in Iraq," Newsweek (MSNBC), April 30, 2003.
• Robin Wright, "U.S. Will Add Iraq Overseer," Los Angeles Times, May 2, 2003.
• Cheryl Seal, "Bloody Hands Full of Gold: Template for Corporate Conquest of Iraq," Baltimore Independent, May 2, 2003.
• Erik P. Sorenson, "Proposed US 'Civilian' Iraq Administrator Another Neocon Hawk," Republicons.org, May 2, 2003: "...It remains to be seen if Bremer will offer to reveal the names of the organizations and nations that have been contracted by Kissinger Associates through the years."
• Knut Royce, "Sources: Garner Out in Iraq Shuffle," News Day, May 2, 2003.
• Mike Allen, "Expert on Terrorism To Direct Rebuilding," Washington Post, May 2, 2003 (Page A01). Early announcement (expects to be replaced by subsequent formal announcement): "L. Paul Bremer III, an expert on terrorism and former consultant with Kissinger Associates, will be named special envoy and civil administrator of Iraq in the next few days, the officials said. He will report to Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld and will be the new boss of Jay M. Garner, the retired Army lieutenant general who has been in charge of rebuilding Iraq."
• Bill Vann, "Bush taps antiterrorism advisor as Iraq pro-consul. The shaping of a repressive colonial regime," World Socialist Web Site, May 3, 2003.
• Andrew F. Tully, "U.S.: Reported Shift On Iraq Administrator May Indicate Powell Influence," Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, May 5, 2003.
• Barbara Starr, "Anti-terror expert tapped for key Iraq role," CNN, May 5, 2003: "A high-level diplomat [L. Paul Bremer III] with anti-terrorism experience is being earmarked to lead the U.S. reconstruction effort in Iraq, a senior U.S. defense official (General Tommy R. Franks) said Friday." Also see U.S. Central Command.
• William Bowles, "The Real Terror Network. Paul Bremer, the new 'Gauleiter' of Iraq," Information Clearing House, May 5, 2003.
• Kathleen T. Rhem, "Bush Appoints State Department Official to Administer Iraq," American Forces Press Service, May 6, 2003.
• News Release: "Ambassador Paul Bremer Named as Presidential Envoy to Iraq (White House says Bremer to be senior coalition official in Iraq)," U.S. Department of State, May 6, 2003.
• Tom Raum, "Bush names civilian administrator for Iraq," Associated Press, May 6, 2003.
• "Bush names diplomat to be Iraq administrator. Former Ambassador L. Paul Bremer to oversee Iraq's shift to democracy," MSNBCNews.com, May 6, 2003.
• Barbara Slavin, "U.S.' new transition chief 'brings a lot to the table'," USA TODAY, May 6, 2003.
• "Ambassador Paul Bremer Named as Presidential Envoy to Iraq. White House says Bremer to be senior coalition official in Iraq," U.S. Department of State, International Information Programs, May 6, 2003.
• Robin Wright, "Bremer appointed top civilian administrator," Los Angeles Times (Christian Science Monitor), May 7, 2003.
• Eric Umansky, "Bremer Garners Post," Slate, May 7, 2003.
• James Dao and Eric Schmitt, "Bush names new civilian chief for Iraq recovery," New York Times, May 7, 2003.
• Sharon Behn, "Bremer named to lead transition in Iraq," Washington Times, May 7, 2003.
• Nuh Gonultas, "Paul Bremer, Iraq's New Interim Governor," Turkish Press, May 8, 2003.
• "Paul Bremer: US' 'tough' man in Iraq," Khilafah.com, May 8, 2003.
• "Paul Bremer: Bush's new top man in Iraq," Shenzhen Daily, May 9, 2003.
• "Bremer of Iraq," WorkingForChange, May 9, 2003.
• Robert Burns, "Gen. Myers says dismantling Republican Guard is first step," Associated Press, May 20, 2003.
• "Top U.S. Officials in Iraq Being Replaced (Garner leaving, replaced by Bremer)," Reuters (Free Republic), May 11, 2003.
• "Kissinger Gofer Paul Bremer Runs US Occupied Iraq," ConspiracyPlanet, May 12, 2003.
• "War, Truth and Consequences," PBS Frontline, October 9, 2003; includes a lengthy interview with Bremer.