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Bush Names New Civil Administrator

Aired May 06, 2003 - 15:41   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Now let's go to the White House, where President Bush today named a new civil administrator for Iraq. CNN's John King is here to fill us in on all of that.
John, we thought there already was a civil administrator in Iraq. How will the two work with each other?

JOHN KING, CNN SR. WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, Miles, they prefer not to talk about it here at the White House. But this, as you note, a shake-up of the administration's planning for post-war Iraq.

The new right hand man was introduced today in the Oval Office, sitting to the right of President Bush. He is L. Paul Bremer, known by his nickname of Jerry. For 23 years he served as a diplomat at the State Department. More recently he has been in the private sector as a consultant. A familiar face after September 11 because of his prior role in 1996 as the United States ambassador at large for counterterrorism, so he was frequently called on by our network and others after the tragic events of September 11.

He soon will be heading to Baghdad. He will be the pointman, the president's special envoy and the top U.S. civil administrator in Iraq. The president making the announcement today, making no mention at all of the fact that this is a change. He simply says, in his view, Ambassador Bremer is the right man to send into Iraq to face the challenge of putting together a new interim Iraqi authority.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: In selecting Jerry Bremer, our country will be sending one of our best citizens. He's a man with enormous experience, a person who knows how to get things done. He's a can-do type person. He shares the same values as the American people -- most Americans share, and that is our deep desire to have a -- an orderly country in Iraq that is free and at peace, where the average citizen has a chance to achieve his or her dreams.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KING: Now the man who has been running Iraq since the hostilities stopped is a retired army general, Jay Garner. You see him here. In the initial plan, he was to report to the commanding wartime general, Tommy Franks. Under this new arrangement, Ambassador Bremer will go in and he is the No. 1 man. He will appoint -- report, excuse me, directly to the defense secretary, Donald Rumsfeld.

Now General Garner will stay. He is still in charge of the reconstruction and the humanitarian efforts. White House officials say Amasssador Bremer will focus more on the political efforts. But if there is any difference of opinion it is Paul Bremer, not General Garner, who is in charge in the end, although, of course, the key decisions made back here in Washington.

Now Miles, it depends on who you ask in the administration as to how they describe this shakeup. Some here at the White House say they do not believe General Garner was doing a good enough job with the politics. Over at the Pentagon they said it was always envisioned you would send in another top civilian person once the security climate improved.

When it comes to the troops still in Iraq, make no mistake about who is in charge of them. General Franks is still in charge -- Miles.

O'BRIEN: Well, I suppose there is one other possible theory, that anybody who is a general officer in the United States military might not be palatable as the Bush administration moves forward and tries to bring Iraq out of the mess that it's in. Perhaps it needed to be somebody who is more of a diplomat as opposed to a general.

KING: Well they certainly think here at the White House that Ambassador Bremer is a better front person, if you will. Someone who has been communication skills, better diplomatic and political skills. There have been some inside Iraq who have criticized General Garner because he played such a big role, a major role in shaping northern Iraq where the Kurds have had autonomy under Saddam Hussein. There was some suspicion because he was so close with the Kurds in the north, some suspicion in the south, especially among the Shiites.

So there's controversy in Iraq about this. There's a bit of buzz, anyway. Whether it's controversy or not we'll leave it to our viewers here in Washington about all this. But Paul Bremer is some one who, they say here at the White House, has the president's full confidence and is now tasked by the end of this month with getting this interim Iraqi authority up and running.

O'BRIEN: Not an easy job. Obviously he's got a big task ahead.

John King at the White House, thank you very much.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com






Aired May 6, 2003 - 15:41   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Now let's go to the White House, where President Bush today named a new civil administrator for Iraq. CNN's John King is here to fill us in on all of that.
John, we thought there already was a civil administrator in Iraq. How will the two work with each other?

JOHN KING, CNN SR. WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, Miles, they prefer not to talk about it here at the White House. But this, as you note, a shake-up of the administration's planning for post-war Iraq.

The new right hand man was introduced today in the Oval Office, sitting to the right of President Bush. He is L. Paul Bremer, known by his nickname of Jerry. For 23 years he served as a diplomat at the State Department. More recently he has been in the private sector as a consultant. A familiar face after September 11 because of his prior role in 1996 as the United States ambassador at large for counterterrorism, so he was frequently called on by our network and others after the tragic events of September 11.

He soon will be heading to Baghdad. He will be the pointman, the president's special envoy and the top U.S. civil administrator in Iraq. The president making the announcement today, making no mention at all of the fact that this is a change. He simply says, in his view, Ambassador Bremer is the right man to send into Iraq to face the challenge of putting together a new interim Iraqi authority.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: In selecting Jerry Bremer, our country will be sending one of our best citizens. He's a man with enormous experience, a person who knows how to get things done. He's a can-do type person. He shares the same values as the American people -- most Americans share, and that is our deep desire to have a -- an orderly country in Iraq that is free and at peace, where the average citizen has a chance to achieve his or her dreams.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KING: Now the man who has been running Iraq since the hostilities stopped is a retired army general, Jay Garner. You see him here. In the initial plan, he was to report to the commanding wartime general, Tommy Franks. Under this new arrangement, Ambassador Bremer will go in and he is the No. 1 man. He will appoint -- report, excuse me, directly to the defense secretary, Donald Rumsfeld.

Now General Garner will stay. He is still in charge of the reconstruction and the humanitarian efforts. White House officials say Amasssador Bremer will focus more on the political efforts. But if there is any difference of opinion it is Paul Bremer, not General Garner, who is in charge in the end, although, of course, the key decisions made back here in Washington.

Now Miles, it depends on who you ask in the administration as to how they describe this shakeup. Some here at the White House say they do not believe General Garner was doing a good enough job with the politics. Over at the Pentagon they said it was always envisioned you would send in another top civilian person once the security climate improved.

When it comes to the troops still in Iraq, make no mistake about who is in charge of them. General Franks is still in charge -- Miles.

O'BRIEN: Well, I suppose there is one other possible theory, that anybody who is a general officer in the United States military might not be palatable as the Bush administration moves forward and tries to bring Iraq out of the mess that it's in. Perhaps it needed to be somebody who is more of a diplomat as opposed to a general.

KING: Well they certainly think here at the White House that Ambassador Bremer is a better front person, if you will. Someone who has been communication skills, better diplomatic and political skills. There have been some inside Iraq who have criticized General Garner because he played such a big role, a major role in shaping northern Iraq where the Kurds have had autonomy under Saddam Hussein. There was some suspicion because he was so close with the Kurds in the north, some suspicion in the south, especially among the Shiites.

So there's controversy in Iraq about this. There's a bit of buzz, anyway. Whether it's controversy or not we'll leave it to our viewers here in Washington about all this. But Paul Bremer is some one who, they say here at the White House, has the president's full confidence and is now tasked by the end of this month with getting this interim Iraqi authority up and running.

O'BRIEN: Not an easy job. Obviously he's got a big task ahead.

John King at the White House, thank you very much.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com