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Bremer furious at Bush recollection on Iraq

Paul Bremer, the US' former proconsul in Baghdad, on Tuesday defended his reputation against comments from US President George W. Bush that the official had acted on his own accord in committing one of the most calamitous mistakes of the Iraq war.

In a breach with the administration he once served, Bremer released two letters to the New York Times refuting Bush's remarks in a new biography that the White House was not involved in the decision to dissolve the Iraqi army.

The disbanding of Saddam's military left hundreds of thousands of Iraqi soldiers stranded without jobs or income, and is recognized as one of the most disastrous measures undertaken by Bremer during his year-long authority.

Bremer, who has been blamed for many of the failures of the occupation, seems unwilling to bear any more. He released two letters to prove his claim that the White House and the Pentagon knew of his plan to dismantle the military and that they approved.

Bremer told the newspaper he sent a draft of the order to the Pentagon on May 9, 2003, and that it had been circulated widely to the defense secretary, Donald Rumsfeld, and other officials.

"It was not a controversial decision," he said.

In the first letter, from Bremer to the president, dated May 22, 2003, Bremer writes at length about Iraqis weeping tears of joy at their liberation, and the dissolution of Saddam's ruling Ba'ath party.

"We must make it clear to everyone that we mean business: that Saddam and the Ba'athists are finished," he writes.

He tells Bush the de-Ba'athification of the civil service was popular.

He deals with the disbanding of the army in a single sentence: "I will parallel this step with an even more robust measure dissolving Saddam's military and intelligence structures to emphasize that we mean business."

The breezy tone is at odds with the implications of the decision and the strong opposition from US military officials at the time. Bush responded the next day, in a brief reply sent from his ranch in Texas. Though it was such a big step in the de-Ba'athification process, there is no direct reference to dissolving Saddam's army.

"Your leadership is apparent. You have quickly made a positive and significant impact. You have my full support and confidence. You also have the backing of our administration that knows our work will take time," Bush writes.

The letters shed light on the chaotic and somewhat incidental way in which Bush dealt with events in Iraq.

Further revelations surfaced this week with the new biography, Dead Certain, in which Bush told author Robert Draper that disbanding the military had been a big mistake. "The policy was to keep the army intact; didn't happen," he said. He suggested he had been left out of the loop.

"Yeah, I can't remember, I'm sure I said, `This is the policy, what happened?'" Bush is quoted as saying.
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