Garner tackles task of stabilizing Iraq

U.S. retired Army Lt. Gen. Jay Garner arrived in Iraq's capital on Monday to oversee its civil administration while an interim government is established.

With the smoke clearing over Baghdad, coalition officials are taking steps to implement a solid government in Iraq. One of the first tasks before them is reorganizing the country's civil sector. That job rests on the shoulders of retired U.S. Army Gen. Jay Garner, who arrived in Baghdad on Monday.

Gen. Garner's first stop was at Yarmuk hospital, which lacked sufficient power and clean running water. The building was also ransacked recently by looters. Because Yarmuk was owned and run by Iraq's former government, which no longer exists, there is currently no one to fund the hospital. As a result, the institution cannot buy new medical equipment, replace what the looters took, or pay the salaries of those who work there.

The hospital staff had a long list of complaints for Garner. One man said that Garner's words meant little to him, adding that he wanted to see changes made in the building. A woman who worked at the hospital said, "We have no work; how can we buy our bread? This is not liberation; this is occupation." She then asked, "How come [coalition forces] can only protect the oil ministry and oil facilities?"

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Garner promised he would help the hospital, but that he would need time to do so. "I don't have a timetable for anything. We do everything as fast as we can and do it as well as we can," he said.

However, Garner expressed confidence in the Iraqi people as he gave his first impressions from their capital. He called the doctors "capable," and he said that "all they need is equipment" to do their jobs well. He added that the country's engineers are "incredibly competent" and that they only required equipment to help them.

Garner will be in charge of the country until an interim Iraqi government is in place. He will also oversee the reconstruction of Iraq and the delivery of foreign aid to the Iraqi people.

Meanwhile, hundreds of Iraqis lined up in Baghdad to apply for available jobs. They provided authorities with their names and their qualifications, and after being searched, they were taken aboard buses to a former presidential palace for interviews.

In another part of the Iraqi capital, residents staged protests on Monday to demand the immediate withdrawal of U.S. troops. CNN's Rula Amin reported that the protesters wanted to run their own affairs without the assistance of coalition forces.