Global Policy Forum

By Jihad Al Khazen

On 6 May 2003 President Bush appointed Lewis Paul "Jerry" Bremer III, 61, as the top civilian administrator in Baghdad, to oversee Iraq's transition to democratic rule. Bremer is one of the world's leading authorities on terrorism. He had a 23-year career in the U.S. diplomatic service. In Iraq he was to head the team that included Jay Garner, the retired U.S. Army lieutenant general who had been the top-ranking civilian in Iraq running the Pentagon's Office of Reconstruction and Humanitarian Assistance. Garner had been criticized for moving too slowly in restoring services and for allowing widespread looting. Bremer reports to Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld. Bremer was expected to remain in Iraq for several months.

The appointment of Bremer was seen as the resolution of the prolonged dispute between the State Department and Pentagon over the administration of Iraq. Secretary of State Colin Powell had wanted greater civilian control while Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld emphasized the military angle. Bush stressed that Bremer goes with the "full blessing of this administration" - seen as referring to the discord between the State Department and Pentagon over reconstruction of Iraq. Bush said: "In selecting Jerry Bremer, our country will be sending one of our best citizens. He's a can-do-type person. He shares the same values as most Americans share, and that is our deep desire to have an orderly country in Iraq that is free and at peace, where the average citizen has a chance to achieve his or her dreams."

But Bremer has some quite hard-line views and is close to leading neo-conservatives in the Pentagon. It is said he was chosen by Bush on the recommendation of Rumsfeld, from a list of 50 candidates. Bremer is a senior adviser to Americans for Victory Over Terrorism (AVOT) set up by William J Bennett after 11 September.

In an article in the Washington Times on 13 January 2003 Bremer argued that the war on terror is not about Israel and Palestine and that "to argue that America must 'reengage' in the 'peace process' as a way of dealing with the root causes of Islamic extremism is fundamentally to misunderstand the nature of the new terrorist threat." He said that the fight cannot be won on the defensive and "we must go on the offensive. To be blunt, we have to kill the terrorists before they kill us." He said this is the year to deal with state sponsors of terrorism. "Regime change in Iraq, long a sponsor of terror, would be an excellent way to bring home to friends and foes that we are serious about terrorism and show that opposing the U.S. has a high cost."

Some human rights groups were worried over his appointment. When he was the chairman of the National Commission on Terrorism, Bremer advocated abandoning CIA guidelines restricting the recruitment of sources with records of human rights abuses. The executive director of Human Rights Watch Kenneth Roth said after Bremer was appointed to Iraq: "His wiliness to strike a deal with an abusive figure could be problematic in Iraq, if he takes a similar approach."

Bremer joined the diplomatic service in 1966 and was assistant to William P Rogers and Henry Kissinger when they were secretaries of state. He was the U.S. ambassador-at-large for counter-terrorism from 1986 to 1989, responsible for developing and implementing U.S. global anti-terror policies. He was the top advisor to the President and Secretary of State on terrorism during this time. In 1983 President Reagan appointed him ambassador to the Netherlands, and he was there for over three years. Bremer joined Kissinger Associates (the consulting firm of Henry Kissinger) as managing director after leaving government in 1989.

Bremer headed the National Commission on Terrorism in 1999-2000 investigating the vulnerability of the U.S. to terrorist attacks. The commission's June 2000 report said the Defense Department should have plans to deal with a terrorist attack in the U.S. that could kill thousands of people and said Syria and Iran should remain on the list of state sponsors of terrorism. In June 2002 President Bush appointed Bremer to the 16-members Homeland Security Advisory Council.

Since 2001 he has been chairman and chief executive of Marsh Crisis Consulting, part of Marsh &McLennan Companies Inc. It advises companies on overcoming crises ranging from terror attacks to natural disasters. Bremer has warned of the threat of Islamic terrorism to the U.S. In 1995, in an article in New Perspectives Quarterly, he said there is a new type of "decentralized, religion-motivated terrorism" fuelled by hatred of Americans and bent on destroying American society in a "holy war".

He particularly warned against Iran, alleging it is a major sponsor of terror groups. A report in the New York Times says that during deliberations over the final report for the National Terrorism Commission, "he pushed for strong language castigating the Clinton administration for not doing enough to press Iran to help in the investigation of the bombing at Khobar Towers (Saudi Arabia) in 1996 that killed 19 American military personnel, members said."

The report said U.S. efforts to signal support for political reform in Iran could be misinterpreted in Iran or by U.S. allies as signaling a weakening resolve on counter-terrorism. After September 11 Bremer became more hawkish on Iraq and told an interviewer from The San Diego Union Tribunal in September 2001, referring to Iraq, "We're in for a major war here one way or the other."

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