|
George Bush 'not engaged'
in crucial decisions
Alex Spillius
London
Telegraph
Wednesday September 5, 2007
The latest book published about George W Bush reveals that the
US president was not fully engaged in key policy areas, including
the disbandment of the Iraqi army and the build-up to Hurricane
Katrina.
Dead Certain: The Presidency of George W Bush, by Robert Draper,
highlights both its subject's strong convictions and the poor
communication and weak leadership within the administration.
It suggests Mr Bush was unaware the Iraqi army was to be broken
up by Paul Bremer, the head of the Coalition Provisional Authority
in Iraq, in May 2003, a decision seen as one of the biggest post-invasion
mistakes as it put hundreds of thousands of armed men on the street.
The president told Mr Draper that the policy was to keep the
Iraqi army after Saddam's fall. For some reason, it "didn't
happen", he said.
(Article continues below)
advertisementMr Bremer responded angrily yesterday to the suggestion
that he had taken the decision unilaterally.
He showed the New York Times a letter to the president that said
he planned to "dissolve Saddam's military and intelligence
structures".
The next day the president wrote back saying "You have my
full support and confidence", but he did not make it clear
he had known about the order. "This didn't just pop out of
my head," said Mr Bremer, adding that he discussed the proposal
"several times" with the then defence secretary, Donald
Rumsfeld.
Mr Draper, who had six one-hour interviews with President Bush
as well as extensive access to administration members, also implies
the president was not fully engaged in the threat posed by Hurricane
Katrina.
At a briefing at his Crawford ranch the day before the hurricane
made landfall, Mr Bush was "gassed" after an 80-minute
bike ride and asked no supplementary questions following a briefing
from advisers. He merely assured them the federal government was
prepared to help.
As arguments over Iraq continued, Mr Bush faces a new battle
for funding from Congress for the war.
Yesterday, the first of four reports on progress in Iraq was
released, by the Government Accountability Office, the investigating
arm of Congress.
It found that 11 out of 18 political and security targets had
not been met, while four had been partially met.
"Overall key legislation has not been passed, violence remains
high, and it is unclear whether the Iraqi government will spend
$10 billion [£5 billion] in reconstruction funds,"
US Comptroller David Walker told a Senate hearing.
|
INFOWARS:
BECAUSE THERE'S A WAR ON FOR YOUR MIND
|
|
