Bremer's ''sweet'' occupation...
Despite US claims of a sovereign Iraq, the future of this occupied country is still enigmatic. Following a hasty handover ceremony by the occupation authority, an interim Iraqi government was given control on June 28 of the war-stricken state.
Besides the fact that the handover took place two days before expected, another issue that also stood out as a mystery was the top US administrator Paul Bremer's speedy departure from the country he had lived in for over a year.
What was the real reason behind Bremer's swift departure from Baghdad?
On Tuesday (June 29), the London-based Al Hayat newspaper reported that 63-year-old Bremer had a young Iraqi lover during his stay in Iraq.
According to the report, the unnamed woman worked in the presidential protocol office during former Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein's term. She continued to be employed by the Americans due to her "good English", the report added.
The 35-year-old woman, the paper added, recently re-located her family to the so-called "Green Zone" – a heavily guarded area of closed-off streets in central Baghdad where US occupation authorities live and work. Only three days ago, she moved them to the Jordanian capital of Amman before their expected departure to the United States.
According to Al Hayat, Bremer's lover had told her relatives that her romantic relations with the top US official in Iraq would "lead to marriage". It should be noted, however, that Bremer is married to the former Frances Winfield, and they have two children - a son and a daughter.
Lewis Paul Bremer III was named Director of Reconstruction and Humanitarian Assistance for post-war Iraq following the 2003 invasion of Iraq. He arrived in Iraq on May 11 and left on June 28, 2004.
Born in Connecticut, Bremer was educated at Phillips Academy and at Yale University and went on to earn a Master of Business Administration from Harvard University in 1967. That year he joined the Foreign Service as Officer General in Kabul, Afghanistan, later continuing his education at the Institut d'études politiques de Paris, where he earned a Certificate of Political Studies (CEP). He was also assigned in Blantyre, Malawi as Economic and Commercial Officer from 1968 to 1971.
During the 1970s, Bremer held various domestic posts with the State Department, including posts as assistant to Henry Kissinger from 1972-76. In 1981 he became Executive Secretary and Special Assistant to Alexander Haig.
Bremer retired from the Foreign Service in 1989 and became managing director at Kissinger Associates, a worldwide consulting firm founded by Henry Kissinger. More recently he has been employed as Chairman and CEO of Marsh Crisis Consulting, a risk and insurance services firm which is a subsidiary of Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc.
Bremer was appointed Chairman of the National Commission on Terrorism by House Speaker Dennis Hastert in 1999. In late 2001, along with former Attorney General Edwin Meese Bremer co-chaired the Heritage Foundation's Homeland Security Task Force, which created a blueprint for the White House's Department of Homeland Security.
Some in the US administration inner circle are buzzing about Bremer as a strong candidate to become Secretary of State Colin Powell’s successor if the latter resigns at the end of President Bush’s first term.
In addition to his native English, Bremer speaks other languages - French, Dutch, Norwegian, Persian, and German.
Following the removal of Jay Garner as civilian administrator of Iraq, Bremer was appointed as the chief U.S. executive authority in the country. As administrator of Iraq, Bremer's job was to oversee the U.S.-led occupation of Iraq until the country was deemed to be in a state in which it can be once again governed by Iraqis.
On June 28, at 10:56 am local time, the US-led administration formally transferred sovereignty of Iraqi territory to the Iraqi interim government, two days ahead of schedule.
Bremer departed the country on the same day. He left a country roamed with violence, stricken by war, anguish and despair. Now, as it turns out, Bremer has left behind yet another souvenir/outcome of his occupation….(Albawaba.com) |
