Talk:Paul Bremer/Archive 3

Comments About Bremer: What Bloggers Were Saying

File:Bureaucrat man.jpg

Image of Bureaucrat Man

---

The file [[:]] has an uncertain copyright status and may be deleted. You can comment on its removal.

As another contributor pointed out, Bremer was ambassador to The Netherlands for a while toward the end of the cold war. There is something to the suggestion that his ambassadorship was odd, but it was not odd in the way suggested. As a young FSO (all of whom serve in diplomatic postings, by the way - it is ambassadorships only a few get), he served as filter of incoming news for the 7th floor at State. That puts one in direct contact with Assistant and Deputy Secretaries, maybe sometimes the boss himself. Bremer made an impression on Al Haig. Haig pointed Bremer out to Kissinger. Thus a career was made. He got his appointment to The Netherlands because we wanted to place theater nukes in Western Europe, and the Dutch were among the hold-outs. If The Netherlands would accept nukes, the rest of Western Europe was in the bag. Schultz was told that Bremer could do the job. It was very much the sort of closely orchestrated, daily contact with the powers in the administration sort of thing that characterizes his present job. He won that one. No surprise that he has been called on to try again. Folks, he may be self-serving, he may not know as much about the Middle East as the FSO quoted saying his knowledge of Iraq wouldn't fill a thimble, but don't mistake him for dumb. He was "the ambassador with the floppy disc brain" to the Dutch (sort of dates him, doesn't it?).....

Reference: Archives

The Brazilian Communist Invasion

Eeek! hide your kitty cats or else User:200.68.127.30 and possibly others who don't bother to register, will harvest their brains for scientific studies. It appears the article is on this anonymous user's "watchlist". Watchout for these sneeky buggers.

Copyright Images

In re to the anonymous contribution from User:68.127.241.195, these photos have Wikipedia copyright tags. Nothing to indicate these photos placed here are "for-profit". Ariele 02:27, 9 January 2006 (UTC)

Foreign Languages

Is everyone sure he speaks all those languages. I find it hard to believe... Plus I remember he was taking arabic class during his time in Iraq (read it in Time)

Mr. Bremer does indeed speak or comprehend all those languages. This is why:

• Arabic - yes, he took lessons while in Iraq (30 minutes every day). We do not know if he continued with his daily lessons.
• Spanish - yes, he even published a book titled Notebook of a Student. Plus, we believe the years he spent in France in a town close to the Spanish border had something to do with his knowledge in the Spanish language
• Persian - We believe that would be Farsi a language spoken in places like Iran. We believe he speaks or comprehend the language
• German - Yes, we believe he either speaks or comprehend, and the name Bremer has German roots (i.e. Anglo-Saxon)
• English - A definite yes, since we've all heard him speak
• French - That's a definite yes too.
• Norwegian - We believe he either speaks and/or comprehends Norwegian because of his post in Norway.
• Dutch - We believe he either speaks and/or comprehends for the same reason, his post in the Netherlands
• We believe his familiarity with foreign languages does not end here. Someone once said Mr. Bremer can retain information like a floppy disc.

Ariele 14:53, 11 January 2006 (UTC)

Bremer has been interviewed on Dutch TV many times (before and after Iraq) but I have never heard him speak in Dutch. But it would be no surprise if he reads and comprehends Dutch. NescioNomen 15:52, 27 September 2006 (UTC)

The evidence outlined above in support of the claim that he speaks all these languages borders on the ridiculous. The claims are completely unsubstantiated and should be removed until someone can do a better job.

Mr. Bremer's Book: My Year in Iraq: The Struggle to Build a Future of Hope

I've not read his book. However, I listened through 6.5 hours of an abridged for audio (whatever that means) version of his book. Mr. Bremer's personal accounts in the abridged for audio version of My Year in Iraq did not come across to me as someone who felt he was/is set up as the fall guy.

Without divulging too much detail, the readers (or listeners) should be prepared for graphic images (in words of course) of the atrocities commmitted by "you know who" during the old Bathist regime.

That's all I'm going to reveal here. I will say that the abridged for audio is rather vague. <<<<<,,,Ariele 15:00, 12 January 2006 (UTC)

The hardcover copy is suppose to be 432 pages long (the audio is about 6.5 hours long, you do the math).

The material content is not suitable for young children. (e.g., Adult language, i.e., Profanity)

Something about some "important Orders"

"The most important tools used by the Bush administration to maintain varying degrees of economic and political control in Iraq were the 100 Orders enacted by Bremer before his departure.

A sampling of the most important Orders. Order #39 allows for the following: (1) privatization of Iraqs 200 state-owned enterprises; (2) 100% foreign ownership of Iraqi businesses; (3) national treatment of foreign firms; (4) unrestricted, tax-free remittance of all profits and other funds; and (5) 40-year ownership licenses. Order #40 turns the banking sector from a state-run to a market-driven system overnight by allowing foreign banks to enter the Iraqi market and to purchase up to 50% of Iraqi banks. Order #49 drops the tax rate on corporations from a high of 40% to a flat rate of 15%. The income tax rate is also capped at 15%. Order #12 enacted on June 7, 2003 and renewed on February 24, 2004, suspended all tariffs, customs duties, import taxes, licensing fees and similar surcharges for goods entering or leaving Iraq, and all other trade restrictions that may apply to such goods. Order #17 grants foreign contractors, including private security firms, full immunity from Iraq s laws. Order # 81 prohibits Iraqi farmers from using the methods of agriculture that they have used for centuries. The common worldwide practice of saving heirloom seeds from one year to the next is now illegal in Iraq. The Bremer Orders fundamentally altered Iraq’s existing laws. For this reason, the Bremer Orders are also illegal. Transformation of an occupied country’s laws violates the Hague regulations of 1907 (the companion to the 1949 Geneva conventions, both ratified by the United States), and the U.S. Army’s Law of Land Warfare."

"...there are reasons why some people turn to terrorism. There are political reasons, there are economic reasons. Some people are simply criminals...." quoted by L. Paul Bremer, III (pbs interview Global Threat June 6, 2000).

Concerning the orders Paul Bremer issued while being head of CPA, the texts of all of them can be found on the homepage of CPA (www.cpa-iraq.org). Don't link these texts though, as the main page says the CPA homepage will go off the web on June 30, 2006 due to the fact that CPA does not exist anymore. So, should you consider to link the orders to wikipedia, download them and store them somewhere else. 195.138.51.10 14:36, 15 March 2006 (UTC)

That might be a sign of the incompetence of the people Bremer hired. Last year it said the site would go dead on June 30 2005. I wonder if it once said the site would go dead on June 30 2004 -- the day limited sovereignty was given to Allawi and the other political appointees. -- Geo Swan 15:50, 15 March 2006 (UTC)

Image copyright problem with Image:Bureaucrat_man.jpg

Thanks for uploading Image:Bureaucrat_man.jpg. However, the image may soon be deleted unless we can determine the copyright holder and copyright status. The Wikimedia Foundation is very careful about the images included in Wikipedia because of copyright law (see Wikipedia's Copyright policy).

The copyright holder is usually the creator, the creator's employer, or the last person who was transferred ownership rights. Copyright information on images on Wikipedia is signified using copyright templates. The three basic license types on Wikipedia are open content, public domain, and fair use. Find the appropriate template in Wikipedia:Image copyright tags and place it on the image page like this: {{TemplateName}}.

Please signify the copyright information on any other images you have uploaded or will upload. Remember that images without this important information can be deleted by an administrator. You can get help on image copyright tagging from Wikipedia talk:Image copyright tags. --OrphanBot 07:30, 21 January 2006 (UTC)

Removal of content from "Progress of Reconstruction of Iraq's Infrastructure" subsection ("Critics of Bremer's Appt.")

The following content was removed 2006.1.31 as it is not befitting the format of the main article:

"[This section to totally unreferenced which is in flagrant violation of the rules of this wikipedia. This is especially unfortunate since the clause "with the notable exception of the meters" makes an objectively unsupportable claim that the oil was being "stolen" by the Coalition. Nor, when the writer says "the progress of the reconstruction" of the utilities was "disappointingly slow", does the author state compared to what. Nor the the author elaborate on how contracts being awarded to U.S. firms (whether connected or well connected) would result in slow construction. This section needs serious repair or flat out removal to a website with a stated axe to grind.

Actually, the truth is that this entire "Critics" section of this article viciously one-sided and doesn't flinch from repeating the most absurd baseless rumor (such as Bremer fleeing an Iraqi lover). This section should be closed or totally rewritten by someone who knows the meaning of the word "objective."]"

This is an issue which should be addressed in the discussion page and not in the main article itself. With the risk of sounding overly didactic, I would like to remark that if the author of the aforementioned addition is to properly take issue with an article or section therein, he/she should follow the proper procedure of either editing in wiki format, or marking it for other users to edit.

JuniorMuruin 16:43, 31 January 2006 (UTC)JuniorMuruin

After another sweep over the Archived discussions, there's absolutely no way I (and other as well) can accept any of this seriously. How can we? We should consider taking a vote to bann User:Geo Swan from editing here!,,,,,Ariele 04:01, 1 February 2006 (UTC)

I haven't looked at this article in a while. When I come back to it now, I see that large chunks of it do indeed go beyond the proper reporting of criticisms of Brenner and actually adopt such criticisms -- stating opinions as fact. On the other hand, there are other passages that violate NPOV in Bremer's favor, such as the statement that he "had to make decisive and tough decisions" (as opposed to people in other jobs who had to make indecisive decisions?). The whole article needs heavy work to cite sources and properly attribute opinions. JamesMLane t c 17:56, 23 February 2006 (UTC)

Biographical Account

The Section on Further Reading

This article is about Paul Bremer. The inclusion of a book written by a former Army Corporal removed (see Coalition Provisional Authority).

Clean Up Tag

This brings up another point, there is a section in Bremer's article that requires cleanup. If there is an axe to grind, it would seem that there's lack of cooperation. You should read Paul Bremer's book to get a better idea of what was spinning around everyone's head over there in Iraq and Washington.

I removed the clean up tag on 2/5/2006 after the editorial revision of this article.,,,,Ariele 13:52, 6 February 2006 (UTC)

Op Ed Article by L. Paul Bremer, III

January 13, 2006

Op-Ed Contributor (New York Times)

In Iraq, Wrongs Made a Right By L. PAUL BREMER,III

THE recent debate set off by the publication of my book about my time in Iraq has shed more heat than light. Here are some of the fundamental lessons I took away from the American experience. First, repairing the damage to Iraq by decades of tyranny was never going to be easy, and I made some mistakes. For example, consider our efforts to ban senior Baath Party officials from public office. This was the proper decision - the party had been a key instrument of Saddam Hussein's dictatorship - and our policy was intended to affect only the top 1 percent or so of party members. The error was that I left the implementation of the policy to a political body within the nascent Iraqi government, where it became a tool of politicians who applied it much more broadly than we had intended. De-Baathification should have been administered by an independent judicial body. We also placed too much emphasis on large-scale reconstruction projects. While the urgent need for modern highways, electrical generating plants and the like was clear, we should have anticipated that building them would take a long time. Our earlier efforts should have been directed more tightly at meeting Iraqis' day-to-day needs. To speed up those larger projects, I should have also insisted on exemption from the usual bureaucratic and contracting rules. This lesson was brought home to me in a dramatic fashion a few weeks after I arrived. We had learned that six major hospitals in Baghdad urgently needed new generators to run their operating rooms and air-conditioning plants. Our budget director told me I could use American funds, which were subject to United States federal contracting rules, or Iraqi government funds, which were not. Using American money, he told me, would mean waiting four to six months for the generators. We used Iraqi funds and got the equipment in eight days. In the future, Congress must make provisions for legitimate exemptions. Another clear lesson is that the United States must be better prepared for the post-conflict phase should we find ourselves in similar military situations in the future. The administration has made a good start by setting up offices of reconstruction in the State and Defense Departments. But the effort must be broadened through the government and especially the private sector. The goal should be a quick-reaction, public-private Civilian Reserve Corps consisting of people with expertise on matters like the establishment of telecommunications facilities, rebuilding of electrical power plants, modernizing health care systems and instituting modern budgeting procedures. Last, much attention has been paid to my concern about the need to retain adequate manpower to defeat the terrorists and insurgents. Our military leaders said they had sufficient forces to ensure law and order, and that additional soldiers might increase Iraqi hostility. Theirs was a respectable argument. But I disagreed with it. And while I had concerns about the quality of Iraqi forces two years ago, their training has since been revamped. Today they are playing an increasingly important role in defending Iraq. Despite the missteps and setbacks, there is little question that, thanks to efforts by the American-led coalition, enormous political and economic progress is being made in Iraq today. Two years ago, Al Qaeda's leader in Iraq, Abu Musab Zarqawi, told his followers there that there would be no place for them in a democratic Iraq. One year later, Iraqis voted in the country's first genuine elections. Then they wrote and approved a new Constitution. And last month 70 percent of voters turned out to elect a new Parliament. Now that body should modify the Constitution to address legitimate concerns of the Sunnis. As for Iraq's economy, at liberation it was flat on its back: the World Bank estimated that in 2003 the economy contracted by 41 percent. Now Iraq benefits from an independent central bank, and a new currency whose stability is a remarkable indicator of confidence. The economy is open to foreign investment and commercial laws have been modernized. The International Monetary Fund reports that per-capita income has doubled in the last two years and predicts that Iraq's economy will grow 17 percent this year. No wonder registration of new businesses has jumped 67 percent in the last six months. There is, of course, still much to be done. American troops and Iraqis continue to die battling criminal elements of the Saddam Hussein regime and Qaeda terrorists. President Bush has correctly identified Iraq as the central front in the war on terrorism, as Osama bin Laden himself acknowledged when he told his followers "the third world war has begun in Iraq" and that it would "end there in victory and glory, or misery and humiliation." Despite these enormous stakes, some Americans have called for setting a timetable for our withdrawal or even pulling out now. This would be a historic mistake: a betrayal of the sacrifices Americans and Iraqis have made; a victory of the terrorists everywhere; and step toward a more dangerous world.

Early Departure Revisited

According to Bremer's account, the transfer was planned (go look it up in My Year In Iraq the Struggle to Build a Future of Hope beginning with p. 384, bottom paragraphs). The idea did not originally come from Bremer.,,,,,Ariele 01:25, 6 February 2006 (UTC)

One remaining weakness of this article, and the Coalition Provisional Authority article is that they lack any coverage of the change in plan for the CPA's duration. Originally its term was to run for at least another six months before it passed on limited sovereignty to an appointed government. The schedule was advanced in early 2004. The CPA rushed to spend all of Iraq's oil revenue prior to the handover. These articles completely neglect to cover this change of plan. I can't help wondering whether the references Ariele reports in Bremer's book about the handover's schedule change may not refer to change of plan of month's duration, not the two day schedule change that took everyone by surprise. -- Geo Swan 19:03, 23 February 2006 (UTC)

This too was left out of L. Paul Bremer, III's book along with the mismanagement of reconstruction funds: حبيبة بريمر العراقية سبقته في مغادرة بغداد!

2004/06/29

العراق سيبقى حاضراً في حياة الحاكم الأميركي بول بريمر, بعد مغادرته السريعة أمس, بعيداً عن مراسم الوداع والأنخاب؟

هذا ما تشير إليه مصادر رافقت بريمر عن كثب في الآونة الأخيرة, وتتحدث عن علاقة عاطفية ربطته بسيدة عراقية في الخامسة والثلاثين.

وتقول المصادر إن السيدة كانت تعمل في قسم البروتوكول الرئاسي في عهد صدام حسين, لكنها واصلت عملها بعد سقوط النظام, مستغلة اتقانها اللغة الانكليزية. وقادها ذلك إلى التعرف إلى بريمر (63 عاماً), فنشأت بينهما علاقة عاطفية. وبسبب حراجة وضعها الأمني نقلت السيدة عائلتها للإقامة داخل المنطقة الخضراء, وهي ميزة لم يكن يحصل عليها إلا المقربون من سلطة الاحتلال السابقة.

وأشارت المصادر إلى أن السيدة, على رغم محدودية إمكاناتها المادية, قررت نقل عائلتها إلى عمّان قبل ثلاثة أيام للإقامة هناك, تمهيداً للانتقال إلى الولايات المتحدة. وأضافت انها أكدت لبعض المقربين إليها أن العلاقة مع بريمر "قد تؤدي إلى الزواج".

Here's a different translated version from Arabic text published by Dar Al-Hayat in June 2004:

"Iraq will remain present in the lives of American governor Paul Bremer, after leaving the fast yesterday, away from the ceremony and farewell toasts? That is what sources accompanied Bremer closely in recent times, and talks about the romantic relationship Iraqi woman tied in the fifth session. The sources say that the woman was working in the presidential protocol in the era of Saddam Hussein, but continued to work after the fall of the regime, taking advantage of mastery of English language. And that led to the identification of the Bremer (63 years old), creating a romantic relationship between them. And because of its security and forestry quoted Ms. her residence inside the Green Zone, which is an advantage not get it until the close of the previous occupation authority. The sources pointed out that Ms., in spite of limited physical potential, decided to transfer her family to Amman three days ago to stay there, in preparation for the transition to the United States. She confirmed that some of those close to the relationship with Bremer "could lead to marriage."

This version is different. The unidentified person with IP address 69.140.159.53 removed this story from the main text citing that the story is "false". This person must know something others don't.

To the contributor of the Dar Al-Hayat rumor: Would you have chosen an Iraqi to have a romantic relations with?

Unsubstantiated assertions

Today I removed the assertion Bremer was authorized to modify Iraqi society.

On August 19 2005 I wrote:

The article currently reads: "Bremer was empowered to issue decrees to modify Iraq's society and infrastructure." Who empowered him to modify Iraq's society? He was not empowered to modify Iraq's society by UN resolution 1483. Was he empowered to do so by some other UN resolution? If some document really tried to empower Bremer to modify Iraqi society this article should link to it.

On September 6 2006 I wrote:

Because someone has asserted, without attribution, that Bremer had powers and responsibilities that I have concerns about. The article has said that Bremer was authorized to alter Iraqi society. Altering a society sounds like it could be a war crime. So, the exact wording is important. It is also possible that the statement in the article was too enthusiastically paraphrased, and suggests Bremer had powers and responnsibilities he did not actually have. If that is the case the assertion should be removed.

No substantiation has ever been offered -- hence the removal.

I also challenged the unsubstantiated assertions that Bremer was popular, and well-liked. Another user offered an anonymous blog as substantiation. That anonymous blog offered an anonymous third person account that claimed a single anonymous Iraqi asked for Bremer's email address, so he could thank him for his management. This is not an adequate source for the claim that Bremer was popular, well-liked or well-respected. -- Geo Swan 18:06, 23 February 2006 (UTC)

Rewording "shepherding"

I questioned the assertion that "Reportedly, his method of creating the Iraq Interim Governing Council was compared to that of 'shepherding'". "Reportedly"? -- who reported it? "Compared"? who compared it? I am shortening the paragraph that includes this sentence because it is just isn't clearly written.

The importance of the authority to select cabinet portfolios is relative to the power ministers have, once selected. The next sentence said that Bremer retained veto power. So, it sounds to me that this should not be described as an "important power".

The assertion that the members held more responsibilities after their appointment is meaningless. So I removed it -- Geo Swan 18:44, 23 February 2006 (UTC)

Bremer's comments on the Inspector General

I removed this paragraph, because it is deceptive. It implies that Bremer created the position of inspector general. Actually the United States Congress created the position of Inspector General of the Coalition Provisional Authority on November 6 2003. The questionable paragraph implies that Bremer created the position, and that the IG's responsibility was to track down fiscal mismanagement of Iraq's oil revenue during the UN's oil-for-food program. In fact the IG's responbility was to monitor the fiscal management of Bremer's administration.

"Bremer announced the establishment of the offices of the inspector general on March 30, 2004 [1]. "Now, almost a year after liberation we are just beginning to understand the outline of the theft and corruption associated with the Oil for Food program. Both the United Nations and the Iraqi Governing Council have begun investigations into a program initiated to help the Iraqi people instead allegedly diverted Iraq's money to other, possibly illicit, uses....Never again should the Iraqi people's wealth be squandered on palaces and Ferraris. Never again should such corruption be allowed to take root....", said Bremer. At least not until June 28 2004 as reports indicate as much as $2 billion dollars may have been stolen from various Iraqi ministries. [2]"

Above is the questionable paragraph I excised. -- Geo Swan 02:41, 28 February 2006 (UTC)

Cleanup Needed

I removed as much vandalism (more or less) as I could, though it's possible it will be reverted. There's probably a lot more, including unsubstantiated claims, and this article needs mroe thorough fact-checking.

Some claims I removed: Bremer approved of torture, Bremer didn't have the right to run the country, Bremer received the Presidential Medal of Freedom for "murdering Iraqi civilians," etc. Check the revision history to see more.

I don't like the guy, but that's no reason for such blatant libel and crap-throwing.

The section "Failure to perform month-end cash reconciliations" also needs a cleanup, as it currently seems somewhat contradictory. Robma 10:31, 30 December 2006 (UTC)

Style

I changed the numerous references in the article into the new footnote style, which I blieve is much preferable. In particular, there were a number of external links within the article, which is not good style. Egil 11:27, 30 December 2006 (UTC)

I have edited the first section for encyclopedic style. 161.253.40.167 00:48, 12 March 2007 (UTC)

Crossings Out

Pardon my ignorance but I was just wondering why most of the above comments have a line through them? What's going on here? Colin4C 10:48, 24 June 2007 (UTC)

Fixed and explained on the help desk. - Zeibura ^(Talk) 11:23, 24 June 2007 (UTC)

Robert Blackwill

There's some mention in some (uuhummm) book about former ambassador Blackwill being sent to Iraq to set the President's agenda back on course; implying that the inner circle was considering replacing Bremer with Blackwill in early 2004. Does someone have more information about this?

According to the American Central Intelligence Agency, CIA, Bremer balked at the requests of intelligence community to include key Sunni members during Iraq's reconstruction phase. This revelation is a bit of a surprise because Bremer's refusal to work with these Sunni individuals is counterintuitive to the statement made about Bremer in this article "Bremer's appointment was criticized by human rights groups, who noted that while chairing the National Commission on Terrorism, Bremer advocated relaxation of CIA guidelines which since 1995 restricted working with terrorist spies or individuals and groups who have a record of human rights abuses." So which is it you guys/gals? Who wrote this part in the article in the first place?

Also it has been said of Bremer (assuming by the people he's worked with),....Bremer is a control freak. Just repeating what was said about him.

Citing Source of Information

There are now several "Citation Needed" tags. The credit should be given to one of your own Wikipedians User:Geo Swan, the original contributor to most of the criticisms found in this article. I believe it is only fair for those involved in the development of this article to ask User:Geo Swan to complete what she started. - Anonymous, September 1, 2007 —Preceding unsigned comment added by 65.188.22.40 (talk) 01:22, 2 September 2007 (UTC)

Fair use rationale for Image:Bremerbook.gif

Image:Bremerbook.gif is being used on this article. I notice the image page specifies that the image is being used under fair use but there is no explanation or rationale as to why its use in this Wikipedia article constitutes fair use. In addition to the boilerplate fair use template, you must also write out on the image description page a specific explanation or rationale for why using this image in each article is consistent with fair use.

Please go to the image description page and edit it to include a fair use rationale. Using one of the templates at Wikipedia:Fair use rationale guideline is an easy way to insure that your image is in compliance with Wikipedia policy, but remember that you must complete the template. Do not simply insert a blank template on an image page.

If there is other fair use media, consider checking that you have specified the fair use rationale on the other images used on this page. Note that any fair use images uploaded after 4 May, 2006, and lacking such an explanation will be deleted one week after they have been uploaded, as described on criteria for speedy deletion. If you have any questions please ask them at the Media copyright questions page. Thank you.

BetacommandBot 02:27, 6 September 2007 (UTC)

It was the template available at the time when image was uploaded in 2005 2006. You may have to make your inquiry through the foundation editors, administrators, or Jimmy Wales himself for further details. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 65.188.22.40 (talk) 02:49, 8 September 2007 (UTC)

New Editorial by Bremer on disbanding army

This information should probably be included in the article. Link to NY Times editorial Remember 13:47, 7 September 2007 (UTC)

Readers should be aware that a documentary film titled "No End in Sight" was released this year about the aftermath of the U.S. Invasion of Iraq. Looking at both sides of the story, to be quite honest, I think the wrath of gods in their shower of "fire and brimstone" have fallen upon all involved in this so called "reconstruction effort of Iraq". I hope God will have mercy on them.

Suggestion to Re-direct Section about Religion

Since User:Getaway reverted my previous edit without any explanation, I would like to suggest moving the religious segment to Frances Winfield as it would seem, she appears to be the religious figure:

"Bremer, a Roman Catholic, was given the nickname "Jerry" after a renowned Bible translator and religious historian known today as St. Jerome, whom Bremer pointed out during a guest appearance on Comedy Central, is his patron saint. He and his wife, Francie, converted to Catholicism in 1994. "He is a man of great personal faith", quoted Francie Bremer. "There is no doubt in my mind that I cannot succeed in this mission without the help of God", said Bremer. "The job is simply too big and complex for any one person, or any group of people to carry out successfully."..."We need God's help and seek it constantly."

Readers should really not look upon Bremer as some sort of religious authority on Christianity. I'm willing to guess that Bremer will find it difficult to complete a full sentence using the words "Jesus Christ my Savior and Lord". What do you think? Has anyone heard him say that?65.188.22.40 03:33, 17 September 2007 (UTC)

Garner .vs. Bremer

User:Gloriamarie recent edit removed "Unlike the retired U.S. Army general Jay Garner, Bremer is not a military man and therefore, brought political and diplomatic skills, which some had accused Garner and other military leaders of lacking."

I think we should undo the edit and revert it back. Bremer is not a military man. Bremer is a top level diplomat, an appointed Ambassador by U.S. Presidents. 65.188.22.40 00:45, 21 September 2007 (UTC)

Choice of Subtopic Title

Is the subtopic "granting all americans immunity from iraq law" an appropriate choice for the topic being presented here? Does anyone know with 100% certainty that this particular mandate or order is still in effect after the CPA and Bremer left Iraq? Needless to say, foreign diplomats visiting the U.S. have "diplomatic immunity"; for example, when I visited the capitol of U.S. 12+ years ago, I couldn't help but wonder why diplomats drive around with special license tags. I heard one of the locals tell me it's so the foreign dignitaries do not have to pay parking tickets. So, does that mean, foreign diplomats should not have immunity from the law when in the U.S.? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 65.188.22.40 (talk) 19:11, 23 September 2007 (UTC)

I'm the one who chose that subtopic title, not the user mentioned.

My choice of words was based on the article referred to. Since then I've found some more links.

"A provision originally called Order 17, signed by L. Paul Bremer, then the top American administrator in Iraq, was later enshrined into Iraqi law, effectively giving security companies working for the United States government immunity against prosecution for acts committed here." [3]

"1) Unless provided otherwise herein, the MNF, the CPA, Foreign Liaison Missions, their Personnel, property, funds and assets, and all International Consultants shall be immune from Iraqi legal process." [4]

"all Americans" is probably too broad. Someone more experienced with Wikipedia is very welcome to revise what I wrote (of course). --RenniePet 19:35, 23 September 2007 (UTC) --RenniePet 19:36, 23 September 2007 (UTC)

"Foreign Liaison"..."International consultants" RenniePet. Bremer's choice of words does not exclude "foreign liaisons and international consultants" in the mix. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 65.188.22.40 (talk) 22:05, 23 September 2007 (UTC)

RenniePet, since you have more information, perhaps you should expand your topic. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 65.188.22.40 (talk) 02:28, 24 September 2007 (UTC)

Integrated trivia section, removed 4 items

These sound like conjecture and/or some sort of political spin. Please find citations for these facts and integrate them in an appropriate place in the article. --NickPenguin_(contribs) 01:50, 14 November 2007 (UTC)

• Ten-foot high concrete blast walls that protect buildings in Baghdad from car-bombings are called Bremer Walls.
• When the new Iraqi dinar was first introduced, it was nicknamed the Bremer Dollar.
• Known for sporting his Brooks Brothers suits and desert combat boots while in Iraq. Within the CPA, this was known as the "Bremer Look".
• The contract Blackwater signed, their first major one in Iraq, to guard Bremer during his time in Iraq was for $20 million (by way of comparison this was the cost of the 1997 United Nations Transition Mission in Haiti (UNTMIH))

Failure to Control Population Growth in Irbil and Sulaimaniyah

I'm removing this section. It's just too far out, and I have a suspicion that it was added as a sort of joke. The reference is perhaps more useable in the article about post-war Iraq conditions in general. http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/bus/columnists/jlanders/stories/DN-landers_02bus.State.Edition1.2cfcdbe.html

If there's disagreement about this, may I suggest that we first talk about it here? Thanks. --RenniePet (talk) 15:46, 29 November 2007 (UTC)

Profession

It is my understanding that a "Politician" is someone who has been voted into office. Bremer's posts with the State Department were appointments. The same goes for the post he accepted in Iraq - by appointment. I've never come across anything quoted by Bremer suggesting that he himself is a politician. I have seen written where Bremer called himself a "diplomat".

If you disagree, please do comment further. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 65.188.22.40 (talk) 05:19, 10 December 2007 (UTC)