The Bush-Bremer "split"

Paul Bremer wrote an op-ed for the NY Times (hat tip to Glenn Reynolds) to set the record straight on recent claims being made in the press. Entitled "What I Really Said About Iraq", Bremer writes

The press has been curiously reluctant to report my constant public support for the president's strategy in Iraq and his policies to fight terrorism. I have been involved in the war on terrorism for two decades, and in my view no world leader has better understood the stakes in this global war than President Bush.

"Curiously reluctant" would be sly understatement, right? Surely Bremer, who served in Iraq and knows how distorted the press coverage was, is aware that the press wants to elect Kerry and will not promote a point of view that is approving of President Bush!

Bremer injects a much needed dose of common sense into the debate when he states

It's no secret that during my time in Iraq I had tactical disagreements with others, including military commanders on the ground. Such disagreements among individuals of good will happen all the time, particularly in war and postwar situations. I believe it would have been helpful to have had more troops early on to stop the looting that did so much damage to Iraq's already decrepit infrastructure. The military commanders believed we had enough American troops in Iraq and that having a larger American military presence would have been counterproductive because it would have alienated Iraqis. That was a reasonable point of view, and it may have been right. The truth is that we'll never know.

Of course this is true, but to hear the President's critics, you'd think every disagreement had an evil genesis and was designed to frustrate good policy.

After all, the President is a dummy whose strings are pulled by the evil neocons, right?

Bremer closes with this

A year and a half ago, President Bush asked me to come to the Oval Office to discuss my going to Iraq to head the coalition authority. He asked me bluntly, "Why would you want to leave private life and take on such a difficult, dangerous and probably thankless job?" Without hesitation, I answered, "Because I believe in your vision for Iraq and would be honored to help you make it a reality." Today America and the coalition are making steady progress toward that vision.

Many people don't want to admit it, but there really are good people in government whose only desire is to do good and promote the goals of this President and believe in the President's vision for a safer world.

It's just that very few of them are liberals.