Left: Paul Bremer. // Right: General Jay Garner.
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U.S. & Israeli colonial occupation policies are so similar, and so deadly...
...Of course, Bush chose an openly Zionist general to run Iraq.
Yes, he chose General Jay Garner, who traveled to Israel with the "Jewish Institute for National Security Affairs" (JINSA), and who signed a JINSA statement praising Israel's "remarkable restraint" in dealing with Palestinians.
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"Garner seeks to reprise his success"
By Patrick Cooper
CNN
Monday, May 19, 2003
On the Web at:
http://www.cnn.com/2003/WORLD/meast/04/09/garner.profile/
VIDEO:
The U.S. tapped Gen. Jay Garner to guide Iraq to democracy. Critics are skeptical of his background in military and civilian life; others say he's the right man.
CNN's David Mattingly reports. (April 17)
PLAY VIDEO
(CNN) -- Retired U.S. Army Lt. Gen. Jay Garner has returned to the Pentagon, but the timing of his return to Iraq is yet to be determined.
Garner is eventually to become the "interim transitional civil administrator" of Iraq -- a title as carefully worded as any.
Now biding his time in Kuwait, he is set to take on the tenuous diplomatic role of transitioning Iraq to a new civilian government.
The 64-year-old now leads the Defense Department's Office of Reconstruction and Humanitarian Assistance. The office soon will divide Iraq into three "sectors" for implementing aid, rebuilding and the installation of post-Saddam leaders.
Despite the Pentagon's consistent avowals of Garner's temporary status, his powerful role has raised questions in the Middle East, where many leaders fear the United States might impose control.
While Garner has kept quiet in Kuwait, canceling his debut press conference on Monday, others have worried he and the United States would not do enough...
...One wildcard issue will be Garner's signing of an October 2000 statement blaming Yasser Arafat's Palestinian Authority for ongoing violence in Israel.
Dozens of retired American military officers signed the statement, produced in conjunction with the Washington-based Jewish Institute for National Security Affairs. Garner also earlier attended a JINSA-led trip to Israel.
Although Iraq and Israel historically have been hostile JINSA issued a statement in late March defending Garner's trip:
"The idea that 10 days in the company of JINSA, traveling in a democratic and friendly country, would fundamentally alter his understanding of the requirements of American policy in Iraq is ludicrous and highly offensive."
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More details from the BBC...
"Iraq's interim administrator"
by Adam Curtis
7 April 2003
On the Web at:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/2924201.stm
"...He has close ties with conservative Israeli groups, attracting criticism when he backed a statement in 2000 by the Jewish Institute for National Security Affairs praising the Israeli army for showing what it called "remarkable restraint" in the face of the Palestinian uprising."
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