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U.S. makes plans for post-Saddam Iraq
From Barbara Starr
WASHINGTON (CNN) -- The Bush administration is laying extensive plans for a long-term U.S. military and civilian administration in Iraq once the regime of Saddam Hussein is removed from power, either through war or other means, officials said Monday. Some of the initial plans were discussed last week in testimony on Capitol Hill, but further White House and Pentagon briefings are expected this week with more detail. More than 100 officials from government agencies that would be involved met Friday and Saturday for a classified briefing at the National Defense University in Washington to begin to lay out the framework. Here is what officials have said about that framework: At the core of a post-Saddam administration would be the U.S. Central Command. Gen. Tommy Franks, who is the head of Central Command, and his troops would remain in charge of security and stability for Iraq when the shooting stops. The goal would be to keep those troops in place as long as necessary but also install a civilian administrator so there is no appearance solely of a U.S. military occupation of Iraq. The Pentagon also has established an Office of Reconstruction and Humanitarian Assistance, which retired Army Lt. Gen. Jay Garner will run. Garner has previous experience in humanitarian relief operations in northern Iraq with the Kurds. He would coordinate operations under the plan. Garner and several staffers are expected to move from the Pentagon into the Persian Gulf region in the near future and then be ready to deploy to the Iraqi capital, Baghdad. Their stated goal will be to also solicit international and private sector support for all efforts rather than have the U.S. military do the work. The Pentagon envisions an era of "transition" before Iraq can be transformed into a democracy, according to one official. The office will have separate deputies overseeing three areas: • Humanitarian relief: The weekend meeting identified this area as a major and continuing issue. Some 60 percent of Iraqis get their food from U.N. and other relief organizations, and the Pentagon is trying to ensure aid agencies can get back into Iraq as soon as hostilities cease. The meeting underscored that the military's humanitarian daily rations airdropped over Afghanistan would be insufficient for ensuring food for as large a population as Iraq. Ensuring a safe water supply also will be a top priority. • Reconstruction of infrastructure: Iraq's basic infrastructure of roads, bridges, civil works and other facilities has deteriorated badly over the last 20 years. The Pentagon will coordinate repair and reconstruction as well as work needed to restore oil fields. • Civil administration: This effort envisions first removing any Baath Party or Saddam supporters from the government and then beginning to work to establish a new government. The United States would work side by side with Iraqis in the bureaucracy and courts and justice system, including the possibility of writing a new legal code. Officials emphasize they do not know how long any of this process will take or how much it will cost. The whole effort depends on how much destruction is caused during a war and the amount of resistance the United States might encounter in Iraqi society.
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