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CNN Sunday Morning
Bremer to Take Over Garner's Duties in Iraq
Aired May 11, 2003 - 11:03 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.
FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: The Pentagon says it is making some major changes in its Iraq reconstruction team. Retired General Jay Garner, who was administering the transition, is now out. So is Barbara Bodine, who effectively serves as Baghdad's interim mayor.
CNN's Chris Plante is at the Pentagon to tell us what's going on. Chris?
CHRIS PLANTE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Fredricka. That's right. General Jay Garner, who's a retired Army three-star, was put in charge of the reconstruction effort some weeks ago. He arrived in Iraq a little bit late, and the program has gotten off to something of a slow start, at least according to some.
President Bush announced earlier in the week that L. Paul Bremer, who is a career diplomat and counter-terrorism expert at the State Department, will be taking over for General Garner. That transition is now taking place a little more rapidly than had been expected. General Garner was expected to be in there for about three months. It turns out that Mr. Bremer is now in the region and the transition is taking place even as we speak. Within the next couple of weeks, we're expecting that General Garner will be gone and that Mr. Bremer will be in charge of the operation there.
One Pentagon official here said that they really wanted this program to have more of a civilian face, and that Mr. Bremer helps to resolve some of the tug of war issues between the Defense Department and State Department over who's in charge. Fredricka?
WHITFIELD: And Chris, what about Barbara Bodine? Her departure was expected, to a degree, right? She's being reassigned? PLANTE: Well, it was expected, but like General Garner, her term was also expected to be about three months. It's been closer to three weeks now, and she was sort of the acting administrator for the city of Baghdad and the central region of Iraq. She's now leaving according to what CNN is being told in Baghdad, today, Sunday, and will be coming home.
So it's pretty clear, while General Garner's term may be cut somewhat short, we were expecting this transition. Miss Bodine, on the other hand, coming up, clearly, with very little notice, coming back to the State Department to take a role in the process there. Fredricka?
WHITFIELD: All right, Chris Plante from the Pentagon. Thank you. 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 11, 2003 - 11:03 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: The Pentagon says it is making some major changes in its Iraq reconstruction team. Retired General Jay Garner, who was administering the transition, is now out. So is Barbara Bodine, who effectively serves as Baghdad's interim mayor.
CNN's Chris Plante is at the Pentagon to tell us what's going on. Chris?
CHRIS PLANTE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Fredricka. That's right. General Jay Garner, who's a retired Army three-star, was put in charge of the reconstruction effort some weeks ago. He arrived in Iraq a little bit late, and the program has gotten off to something of a slow start, at least according to some.
President Bush announced earlier in the week that L. Paul Bremer, who is a career diplomat and counter-terrorism expert at the State Department, will be taking over for General Garner. That transition is now taking place a little more rapidly than had been expected. General Garner was expected to be in there for about three months. It turns out that Mr. Bremer is now in the region and the transition is taking place even as we speak. Within the next couple of weeks, we're expecting that General Garner will be gone and that Mr. Bremer will be in charge of the operation there.
One Pentagon official here said that they really wanted this program to have more of a civilian face, and that Mr. Bremer helps to resolve some of the tug of war issues between the Defense Department and State Department over who's in charge. Fredricka?
WHITFIELD: And Chris, what about Barbara Bodine? Her departure was expected, to a degree, right? She's being reassigned? PLANTE: Well, it was expected, but like General Garner, her term was also expected to be about three months. It's been closer to three weeks now, and she was sort of the acting administrator for the city of Baghdad and the central region of Iraq. She's now leaving according to what CNN is being told in Baghdad, today, Sunday, and will be coming home.
So it's pretty clear, while General Garner's term may be cut somewhat short, we were expecting this transition. Miss Bodine, on the other hand, coming up, clearly, with very little notice, coming back to the State Department to take a role in the process there. Fredricka?
WHITFIELD: All right, Chris Plante from the Pentagon. Thank you. TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
