Arizona Republic October 07, 2003
Streamlining Iraq new goal of White House
By Wayne Washington and Robert Schlesinger
WASHINGTON - The White House insisted Monday that its decision to play a greater role in the rebuilding of Iraq and Afghanistan was not an acknowledgment of problems with U.S.-led efforts.
Instead, administration officials portrayed the move as an attempt to streamline decision-making as Congress debates President Bush's request to spend $87 billion to stabilize the war-torn countries.
Members of Congress have been sharply critical of the administration's plan for postwar Iraq, and Taliban militias are feared to be reorganizing in Afghanistan. A confidential memo circulated last week said the Iraq Stabilization Group would be overseen by National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice.
"Condi's team is going to make sure that the efforts are continued to be coordinated so that we continue to make progress," Bush said during a news conference with President Mwai Kibaki of Kenya. "And listen, we're making good progress in Iraq. Sometimes it's hard to tell it when you listen to the filter (of critics)."
It remained unclear Monday how differently decisions would be made under the new stabilization group than under the current system. Administration officials described the group as an entity that would work with the Coalition Provisional Authority in Iraq to make more day-to-day decisions without having to consult with the deputies from the Pentagon or the State Department.
L. Paul Bremer, the top U.S. official in Iraq, would continue to report to the Defense Department.
"This group can work to help cut through some of the bureaucracy and red tape here in Washington, D.C., so that we can make sure, as our efforts accelerate in Iraq, that they're getting the full assistance from Washington, D.C.," said Scott McClellan, White House press secretary.
Several key members of Congress who have traveled to Iraq have returned with warnings about continued violence if basic services there are not restored.
They have said that the administration should have anticipated the violent resistance that has made rebuilding more difficult and that it should have better prepared American taxpayers for the length and the cost of the Iraqi operations.
"Almost two years after the fall of the Taliban and nearly six months after the fall of Baghdad, the White House finally is organizing itself to deal with the realities of postwar Afghanistan and Iraq," said Senator John Edwards, a North Carolina Democrat who is running for president. "It's about time President Bush tried to get his bureaucracy in order, but rearranging flow charts is no substitute for leadership."
Others who also have been critical of the administration's approach in Iraq praised Bush's decision.
A spokesman for Senator Richard G. Lugar, the Indiana Republican who is chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said that it "is a move in the direction of what he's been calling for": reassessment and re-evaluation of the postwar decisions.
John Pike is director of GlobalSecurity.org, a Virginia-based think tank that specializes in military issues. He said that the move to form a group to oversee day-to-day decisions is a good one.
"They're coming to grips with this being a high-visibility, long-term issue that they need some sort of structure to deal with," Pike said.
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